The Effect Of Lies
by Josie Gibbons
Summary: After a letter from Gringots Harry starts to question what he's been told and uncovers a lot of lies. AU from after 5th year, Independant Harry, Manip/controlling Dumbledore. Weasley and Hermione bashing likely. Aiming to hit over 100k words
1. Chapter 1

This is the first long story I've attempted in a very long time, and also if I'm honest my first attempt in years to delve seriously into the fanfiction world. I wrote a lot in the past, but found my inspiration dying resulting in an endless stream of songfics and oneshots that were quite frankly nothing like what I would like to be known for. Entertaining and theraputic at the time, I'm finding more and more now I have time to read again that as a reader this type of fic irritates me greatly. It's a nice idea, and I'll admit that years ago I found enjoyment and relaxation by writing these fics, but looking back they required very little writing or thought as a writer and didn't really challenge me to try harder, or even at all. That, I guess, is the inspiration for this fic, and for my returning to the fanfiction world with hopefully what will become my most epic story to date. For the first time ever I have a plot set out in my head, or at least the basis of one, and know where I want this story to go. The plot isn't set in stone, my ideas are still only thoughts but I am hoping that I'll be able to turn them into something worth reading and that others will find enjoyment from my little ideas. I can't be sure that this won't be like other stories read before, I can honestly say that I have taken ideas from a lot of other stories I've read in recent months, but I do hope I can put my own spin onto things and not just re-hash those overused storylines that while enjoyable are over done and over used. I warn you quite openly that I do dislike Dumbledore, and most of the Weasleys, and I don't have much time for Hermione as a character either. I found cannon to be full of many plot holes and that the original character of Harry Potter was a weak and unassuming character, reacting in my personal opinion extremely mildly to the situations he was put under. This story will contain a lot of Dumbledore and Weasley bashing, and my Harry will end up being extremely AU, because that's the way I see him turning if he was a real person faced with that which he has to go through.

And now my rediculousy long Authors Note is done with, I leave you with the intro to my story. I can't gaurantee regular updates, as I'm a full time mum with my second due in 3 months time so I only get to write in the evenings, but I hope to post weekly at the least (my last long-ish story with 3 regular reviewers I was posting almost daily) dependant on reviews and remembering to pay my internet bill, and I hope you all enjoy the story to come.

**Disclaimer: **While I wish I owned Harry Potter for the money, I hate the way the character was portrayed in cannon and am just playing around with him and others with the permission of the copywrite holders.

To anyone passing by Privet Drive would seem like any other suburban street in any other town in Britain. There was nothing on the outside to suggest that any of the inhabitents were anything but normal, well meaning and law abiding members of society, but this wasn't necessarily the case for number 4. To outsiders it might have seemed like just a normal home, the residents went to school, went to work, kept their gardens immaculate and were Perfectly and Completely Normal, but hidden in the back bedroom was their dirtiest little secret.

That dirty little secret was currently sitting at a small desk next to the window staring intently at the letter in his hand as he tried to comprehend the meaning behind it. His name was Harry Potter and he was everything the Dursleys of number 4, Privet Drive, detested. It wasn't that he was a bad mannered boy or even particularly troublesome, but he was everything that they saw as against the norm, everything that defied their perfect little world. Harry Potter was a Wizard, and at almost sixteen years old he had just finished his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary. Quiet and unforthcoming, there was very little about Harry to suggest this to anyone on the outside, but the mere fact of his skills was enough to enfuriate his aunt and uncle, the owners of the house and during the summer months his legal guardians.

Harry absentmindedly pushed his messy black hair back from his forehead revealing a lightening bolt scar, the only lasting mark that set him out from anyone else. Sighing he went back to reading through the letter, trying his hardest to make sense of it.

Mr Potter,

Our sincere apologies for contacting you in this way, but unfortunately due to a lack of response from any of our owls we at Gringotts feel we have no other option. We would like to arrange a meeting with you at your earliest convenience to discuss discrepancies to your account funds and your lack of regular contact with our bank and persons, something that should have by all rights been rectified by your guardians as set out by your parents will.

Please write your reply on the back of this letter and it will be recieved by us in due course.

Yours,

Chief Goblin Growlburp.

He stared again at the letter, trying his hardest to make some type of sense out of it. He had always been lead to believe that his parents hadn't left a Will, that they'd died before they had the chance to write one. He'd never recieved any post from Gringotts either, but this seemed undermined by the underlying message in the letter, that things were going out of the ordinary with his accounts and there were things that he should have been made aware of long ago. There was also the suggestion that he wasn't with his rightful guardians, although that could easily be explained away by the situation with Sirius. With his godfather in prison there wasn't much that could be done in terms of his care other than what the headmaster had decided. But then that also brought up the question of the Will again. If, as the letter suggested, there was in fact a Will in place, then wouldn't that have led to the conclusion that his parents had left alternate guardians for him as well? Anyone preparing for their own deaths during war time must have thought about the possibility that others wouldn't survive either. He might not have known much about his parents, but he assumed from what knowledge he did have that they would have thought more than to leave no alternate options. He should have recieved his post from the bank at least, as the letter mentioned that there were statements and the like that were due to go to him, and that itself brought up more questions. It was pretty clear to him that owl post _could_ reach him at Privet Drive as his friends and at times the ministry would send him letters, so it stood to reason that these particular letters were being blocked somehow.

Sighing, the young Harry Potter turned over the parchment and began to scribble a quick reply, his mind reeling but his hands managing to keep to the steady script that came from years of writing on parchment and quill.

Dear Sir,

I would be happy to come and meet with you at your earliest convenience, however due to my current situation and the fact that I am almost sure I am being watched at all times I am not sure how easy it will be to arrange transportation without people questioning it or trying to stop me. If there is anything you can suggest to get around these issues then it would be most appreciated, as I wasn't even aware that my parents had written a Will.

Awaiting your response

Harry Potter.

Yes, I am aware that this intro was short and didn't really say much, its just the first intro of two really, although I am choosing to title the second intro as a full chapter. I am hoping that after these two introductions to the story my chapters will begin to get longer and my writing style improve with practice. I can't be sure I won't always write long a/n's because to be perfectly honest they help me to focus my writing both before and after my chapters, but hopefully these too won't put off readers too much. If you've read this far, I thank you, and look forward to sharing the rest of my story with you. You can expect the next chapter within the next day depending on response, as it is written and waiting and reviews make me want to post and write more, so fingers crossed! Keep reading, keep writing, keep reviewing and keep enjoying.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow! What an amazing response for the intro, more than I ever expected! Thank you to everyone who reviewed or added this story to their watch, it reminded me instantly why I love the world of fanfiction and made me want to do nothing more than pick up my laptop and start writing again. One more short intro and then onto the story proper, with longer chapters and more of an actual story taking place. Dependant on reviews as always, the next chapter will be posted in 24 hours time, as it is already written and waiting to go. This chapter was supposed to go up last night, but pregnancy knocked me out at 9pm and I forgot to post! Thank you again!

**Disclaimer:** I like everyone else wish I owned the rights to these characters, I like everyone else in the fanfiction world, don't, and use them only with permission of the copywrite owners. I do not intend any offense by my manipulations and write souly for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others.

**Chapter One:**

It had been a whole long week since Harry got the letter from Gringotts mentioning his parents Will, and since that day he had done very little other than pace around his bedroom and think, trying to make sense of what he had read. He was slowly coming to terms with the idea that his parents had left a Will, but he still couldn't seem to accept how he didn't know what was contained in it. Surely that should have been the first thing that Dumbledore told him about once he joined the magical world, surely if there was a Will written then he should own more of his parents possessions, or know people who did. He had never really questioned the lack of belongings before, assuming that everything his family owned had been destroyed the night his parents died, but now even that was being brought into question. After all, now logic was applied to the situation it would make sense that anyone going into hiding would put a lot of their most prized possessions into storage, just in case. It was only a few hours until Harrys arranged meeting with the goblins and he was slightly aprehensive about what he would find out, and about the travel arrangements that had been made to transport him to London. The return note had only stated that there were arrangements in place for his situation and to be ready and in his room at 2pm on the afternoon before his 16th birthday, whereby the arranged transport would collect him and deliver him to the bank.

Knowing there was very little he could really do but wait Harry was spending the last few hours before his meeting pooring over his school books, not because of any great need to study but because it was at least taking his mind off the thoughts and questions running around his head. There was so much he needed to know answers to, even the slight hints in his first correspondence had proved that to him, and now it was all he could do not to write endless letters to anyone he could think of asking for information. This might not be the right idea though, his mind had rationalised, as yet another letter found itself balled up and threw into the corner much to the disgust and irritation of Hedwig. The poor owl was getting overly frustrated stuck at Privet Drive for the summer again and the endless promise of work then thrown away was just serving to aggravate the situation. Since receiving his first letter from Gringots a week before Harry hadn't even felt capable of writing a sendable letter to Ron or Hermione for fears of giving away too much information, too many of his questions slipping through the cracks. Ron, he knew, wouldn't pick up on anything even if he said it almost straight out, but there was always the risk that the twins might steal his post for a joke and notice something was wrong. There was also the large chance that if he mentioned a meeting with the Goblins Ron would mention it straight away to his mother as a way of getting a day away from the Burrow to meet him in London. Given his questions about his parents Will and the fact that both of Ron's parents were huge supporters of Dumbledore there was no questions that this would get back to people he didn't want to know just yet. Hermione posed the opposite problem; as much as Ron was unaware and unassuming she was almost sure to analyze anything he sent in extreme detail, talking to pieces every single word on the offchance of finding some hint of how he was feeling or what she perceived as something wrong. No, he had decided after a few tries, there was no point writing to his two best friends right now, not until he had managed to get things more settled in his mind and had at least some of his questions answered. The last thing he wanted right now, as he was so close to finding out some real things about his heritage, was for Dumbledore or the Order to step in and offer to accompany him, a blatant attempt at babysitting and directing his questions in a way that continued to keep him in the dark.

Questions were one thing the young boy had a lot of, he thought wearily as he put aside his school books realizing it was a fruitless exercise and instead turning to another of the scraps of parchment scattered across his messy desk. Yes, he though, scanning through the scribbled list in front of him, there were definitely a lot of questions he needed answers to, whether the Goblins were able to provide them or not. Top of course was something that shouldn't even have needed to be a question, the matter of his parents Will; what had he been left, what had been left to others, who's responsibility was it to make sure the Will was carried out, and who had got in the way of him receiving his rightful inheritance. Second, though he admitted it didn't seem that important given all his other questions, was the other matter mentioned in the letter from the Bank, the discrepancies in his accounts. Somehow that in itself was enough to really make him question a lot about the people he trusted, because noone was supposed to have access to his accounts other than himself. Who had been in possession of his key before it got given to him on his 11th birthday, and who out of the people he had trusted to withdraw money for him had been taking advantage of that. Would currency removals on his behalf even count as discrepancies, or would they just be set down to standard banking transactions? There were also a lot of questions he didn't think the Goblins would be able to answer, but hopefully by what he could learn from them he could begin to answer for himself, for example who could he trust, what were Dumbledores real motives and why had he been left living with the Dursleys for so long. Why wasn't he receiving his mail from Gringots and where was his post going if it wasn't landing in his possession. He was also wondering after a week of nothing else to occupy his mind just what he could do to stop these things happening again, how could he make sure he was safe himself and also that his friends were safe too. His next actions, he realized, would really have to depend on what this head banker he was due to meet had to say for himself, on what was contained in his parents Will and on what he could do himself without the ability to cast magic outside school. He didn't doubt that if anyone realized what knowledge he had gained then he would need to have ways to protect himself, which also brought up the questions of mind magics. It was pretty clear that his occulmency lessons had been a complete failur to date but if he was to possess information that had been deliberatly denied to him then he would need to really master the art. After all, it was only a matter of time before either Dumbledore or Snape attempted to break into his mind again and discovered instantly what he knew. Harry felt guilty for questioning Dumbledore so much without real proof, but honestly he thought, who else could have put all these things to rights? Who else had been conveniently there when he had questions in the past, to steer his queeries away from what he really wanted to know and onto mundane matters, or to push him in a completely different direction. The prophesy, still a sore point in the young boys mind, was a clear point to prove how much Dumbledore liked to keep from him, and something that he kept going back to even with the thoughts of his meeting and everything else running round in his head. Looking half heartedly at the battered old wristwatch he has salvaged from his cousin Dudley and repaired with magic, he sighed in defeat. Still another hour and a half to wait, and nothing to do in that time but keep listening to the thoughts running around and around in his mind, steadily driving him closer and closer to insanity.

Okay so this first chapter didn't say much, more just introduced the idea that Harry is discontent with things and is beginning to question a lot about what is going on around him, about who he can trust and the way his friends really behave. I know nothing really happened but this was important as this is really more of a second intro than an actual first chapter and it shows more of what I want Harry to become, which sort of direction I plan to take his character in, while still setting the start for the rest of the story to come. The next chapter is going to be the meeting with Gringots where Harry first hears his parents Will, and begins to find out a bit about the manipulations which have been going on around him. It will also begin to show Dumbledore in a negative light rather than just in the first signs of questioning from Harrys part as portrayed so far. Hopefully anyone who's stuck by me this long will continue to do so, and are looking forward to the rest of this story as much as I'm looking forward to writing it.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow! There are no words to describe how delighted I am by the response to the two intro's to this story so far. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, and all those who have added this story to their alert list. It's people like you who inspire writers to try harder and work better. A few people have remarked on my lack of dialogue and the length of my paragraphs, and from this chapter onwards dialogue will become part of the story, I am also working to try and reduce my paragraph length but that is a work in progress! I'll aim, as always, to have the next chapter posted in the next 24 hours, and hope you all enjoy the story to come!

**Disclaimer:** Like every other fanfiction writer I would love to be able to say I own these characters, but unfortunatly I don't. Instead I use them only with the permission of the copywrite holders and mean no offense by my manipulation of them. I use these characters only for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of others and make no profit from this venture.

**Chapter two:**

"Mr Potter, how kind of you to finally grace us with your presence." Harry had only been inside the bank a few short minutes and he was already feeling slightly uncomfortable, though he assumed this was largely just the effect of the goblins on normal humans. It came, he assumed, from the fact that they weren't humans although they were trusted with a lot of human affairs. He hadn't had much dealings with them to date but from his limited experience they saw themselves as a nation above humans and often treated them with contempt. Swallowing the snappy remark rising to the tip of his tongue Harry forced himself to remember that to date the goblins had done him no real wrong, and to greet them like he would any of the many business associates of Vernon Dursley he had been forced to play butler too over the years. He might not have enjoyed much of his childhood but it had most certainly instilled in him the knowledge of politeness and, if not respect for his elders then most surely self preservation when dealing with unsavory characters.

"It is nice to finally meet your acquaintance, I just apologize that it has taken so long for you to be able to contact me. I hope that during our meeting you will be able to shed some light on why this is, and answer some questions I have if you are so willing. I of course understand if the lack of contact from me has put myself in low standing with your nation but would like the chance to rectify this situation as soon as possible." He bowed his head in what he hoped would be seen as a sign of respect while secretly watching from under lowered lids to try and gauge any type of response from the creature he was dealing with. When non was forthcoming however he gave up the charade and instead settled for making eye contact, wondering to himself if he had maybe committed some faux pas through either his actions or his words. It wouldn't do to offend the creatures who dealt with his finances and could also be the most reliable source of information he had, and he found himself making a mental note to attempt some research into goblin culture and the way he should behave around them. In hindsight this might have been a good idea before attending his meeting, but he was all too aware that he didn't currently have any books in his possession that could help him anyway, so there wasn't much he could have done. He found himself gaining a slight appreciation for Hermione's attitude to studying, realizing that she could probably have handled this initial communication a lot better than he felt he was doing. A slight cough brought him back out of his thoughts and into reality where he found the goblin he had been speaking to looking at him with something between distaste and slight interest.

"Very well Mr Potter, we shall have to see if your words live up to your actions. If you would care to follow me the manager of your accounts is waiting in one of our private rooms to conclude your affairs."

After what felt like hours, though in reality it was only a few minutes, Harry found himself in front of a pair of carved oak doors somewhere in the bowels of Gringotts bank, an area he had never seen before though he doubted he had seen more than a tiny fraction of what the bank had to offer. He had expected to leave the main foyer by the same way he normally accessed his faults, but instead had been led through a door at the opposite side of the room, before walking quickly through many winding corridors and pathways, each lined with more nondescript doors than Harry cared to count. He had considered questioning their uses, but instead decided against it, not wanting to anger his Goblin companion, and also realizing that there was probably a lot more work done in the bank than just people coming too and from their faults. After all, a bank dealt with many issues, and in a world like his there were probably a lot more sensitive things stored in the banks than in the Muggle world. He had never heard tell of personally owned vaults inside the muggle banking system, which stood to reason that there was often a lot more stored in people's accounts here at Gringotts than just money. As he waited to enter the doors he found himself wondering about his own vault, how come it had only contained money since there were clearly other uses for the bank. There was no point in wondering about things though, as the doors were opening in front of him, and Harry knew that he was finally going to get a chance to have a least some of his questions answered at last.

The meeting with his account manager was like nothing he had ever even thought to expect. Despite constantly telling himself that Goblins weren't human, he had still expected something along the lines of a Muggle banker, with all the stiffness and trappings that came with it, all the aversion to answering questions and general slimeyness that he had heard his uncle Vernon complaining about for so long. A goblin meeting, it appeared, was completely different however. After the initial stiffness and greetings had taken place, Harry had expected the rest of the meeting to continue along the same way, official documents to be read through and signed and a sense of wary discontent between the two. It hadn't taken long after the formalities had been exchanged for Harry to completely change what was more than likely an already planned direction, all it took was a few simple sentences, spoken without unnecessary flare, to get his point across and make the goblin see the need to help the young man in front of him.

"Before we get down to any type of business, I have a few questions I need to ask, if that's okay? I know it's probably not the way things are done but I do need to understand some basic things so I know what to do in the future or how to respond to things. Plus, I think there's too many gaps in my knowledge to be able to really be any benifit in this meeting right now."

It seemed to be the right thing to say as Harry saw a brief flicker of respect come from the Goblin facing him.

"Ask your questions, and then we will continue based on what we have established." came the curt reply, and Harry signed. It seemed Goblins were slow to show any respect outside of the odd glances, and he wondered how he hadn't noticed this before. Probably because he had never paid them much notice, if he was honest. To him, like most of the magical world they were just bankers, in charge of finances but not deserving of much notice. Reminding himself yet again to do a lot more research into goblin lives and traditions, he composed himself before beginning to speak.

"Firstly, I guess, I should thank you for even getting in contact with me. I didn't know that I was supposed to get any post from Gringotts since I've never received anything in the past, so it was a bit of a shock to get your letter. I hope we can work to discover where my mail has been being directed to, because being completely honest with you sir, I don't like the idea of someone else having access to my account information. I don't know much about the way Gringotts works since I grew up in a Muggle home but if your system is anything like what I'm used to peoples banking correspondance are normally personal and not meant for others to read in case they contain sensitive information." he paused for a second to get his breath, but after a nod from the goblin continued with his speach.

"Your letter brought up a lot of questions about who I could trust and who has been plaing around with my possessions, I don't have much due to my upbringing and the idea that someone has been playing with what I do have horrifies and disgusts me. After all, I'm more than happy to share what I have with my friends, so why would someone actively take from me, when I don't believe myself to be selfish in nature and always spend what I have on my friends anyway. There's also the question of my parents Will. What was contained in it, what it means for me and why was I never made aware of its existence before now?! If possible, I would like the chance to read it as soon as possible, as I've never had much knowledge of my parents and never had the chance to read more than a single letter penned by my mothers hand to someone she believed to be a friend."

The goblin had been listening closely as the young man spoke and although it didn't show on his face he had already gauged his own opinions of the man. His people were a proud race and he had been told to treat the man with caution, as his lack of contact had been seen as a direct insult on their nation, but from listening and watching the man he could see nothing but truthed etched across his features. Despite what they had been led to believe by their intelligence within the ministry and their other contacts in the Wizarding world, here was a man who was nothing like what he had been told to expect. Quiet and non assuming, truth and confusion seemed to spill forth from the young Potters eyes and heart, and it made the goblin furious that this young man had been treated the way he had. Upon hearing the last statement Harry gave he felt rage bubbling up from his heart, a rage released normally only in defense of his kin, and he swore then on his magic and his family to help the young man to the best of his abilities.

"Well Mr Potter, it seems we have a lot more issues than I first thought. We will of course read your parents will, together and during this meeting if you are agreeable, and will strive as a nation to help you right the wrongs against you. My name is Gripknock, I am your account manager and from this point on it is my primary business to help you fix what has been done against you."

Another chapter down, the next one should hopefully be up within the next 24 hours, depending on how tired I am and how my writing goes although I'm starting work on it right away. This chapter didn't say much but introduced us to the goblins and put Harry into position to start his meeting with them. Originally I planned to put the whole meeting into one chapter, but this seemed like a relivent place to stop. Next chapter will include the Will, and a few revelations contained therein which will effect the future of the story and where my plot goes! Keep reading, keep reviewing, and I'll see you all on the next page!


	4. Chapter 4

Firstly, I would like to apologize profusely for the delay on posting this chapter. I realized quickly during the writing process that trying to write full time is not an option right now, due to my personal circumstances. I'm a full time mother to an 18 month old who has just started walking, and I'm also suffering from a difficult pregnancy with my second child leaving me bedridden lots of the time. While being bedridden could be seen as a positive in the writing process, it seems I spend a lot of time on the couch being climbed on. Unfortunately this means I will have to reduce my posting to once a week, normally at the weekends as I can only write in the evenings when I have enough energy. Although I might get more written than that in a week, this gives me the option to build up a backlog of chapters before the birth of my second daughter in early June this year. Hopefully this extension on my plans for posting will allow me to write longer chapters however, which I can only hope will be a positive to my readers.

Quite a few people have made the mistake of reading the Goblin name I used wrong, I deliberatly used Grip_Nook_ not Griphook as Harry's account manager. While this will not be explained or mentioned in this chapter, it was a deliberate mistake and will become quite a key part of the story in later chapters, I have plans for plots involving Harry's relationships with the Goblins, to which this change of name will be the catalist, though I do not want to give away too much just yet and I hope you will bare with me until I am ready to reveal this storyline.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Harry Potter I wouldn't be writing this in the evenings and living on benefits, but I don't so I am.

**Chapter three:**

The two sat in silence for several minutes, both lost in their own thoughts but not voicing them, prefering instead to muse over what they had discovered, and their own reasonings. While not much had been said as yet, Harry knew that things were soon going to change drastically, that once the runner had returned with the paperwork he had been sent for there would finally be answers to some of his questions. He wasn't certain just how much he would learn today, but he knew at least there would be a start, and he would finally get to hear the plans his parents had laid for him before their untimely death. After that he could decide where to place the blame for what had happened to him, or if anyone was to blame, and he could begin to understand just what manipulations had been used against him since he was a child. He didn't doubt, given Gripnooks reaction, that there was a lot more going on than he knew just yet, but he didn't know just how far the deceit went, or how much of it he would even be in a position to control or correct. It made him feel slightly better knowing that his account manager at least was on his side, though he wasn't certain how much good this would do. After all, there was a clear boundary between Goblin and Wizarding society, and it was how much power one had over the other that would really come to be the crux of how much help he could gain from Gringotts. Something would be done though, he swore to himself; he would find out what had been done to him and he would fix it, in any way he could.

Not that there was much a sixteen year old Wizard could do, but there must have been something. There must have been some options that could at least allow him to some level of freedom from whoever it was who had been controlling him for so long. Whoever being the operative word, because as he let himself wait and muse he could only think of two or three people who could have had access to his Gringotts accounts, and they were the people he most thought he could trust in the world. It was horrifying to think that either Dumbledore, Hagrid or Mrs Weasley had been accessing his accounts to cause discrepancies in them, yet it was the only logical explanation he could reach. After all, they were the only people he could think of who ever had his key, and the only people he had ever trusted to take money from his account on his behalf.

Finally there came a knock at the doors, and at a gesture from Gripnook they swung open to reveal a young looking goblin carrying a stack of paperwork in his arms. Behind him, Harry was amazed to see three more of the same carrying yet more paperwork in large boxes, some even spilling over from the amount of information they contained. Surely this couldn't be all relating to him, and he wouldn't be expected to look through all of this? Unfortunately his suspisions were confirmed as the leading creature bowed down in front of Gripnook.

"The Potter accounts sir."

"This is all of it?"

"Yes sir, the first two boxes are pertaining to the Potter accounts themselves, the third are linking documents to any houses inherited by the Potter family and the fourth contains details of any political standing these houses may or may not have within wizarding society."  
A nod from Gripnook, and the four goblins slowly retreated, bowing as the carved wooden doors closed tightly behind them. Muttering under his breath in Gobeldigook, Gripnook then turned to Harry and looked him dead in the eye.

"Mr Potter, what we read here will for now of course stay between just us. I have no idea how many of your questions can be answered by what we read today, but rest assured that we at Gringotts will do everything within our power to help you with your newfound knowledge in any way we can. Had we realized the severity of your situation beforehand we would have of course attempted to rectify these problems long ago, but the past cannot be changed by mortal means and indeed, it would be foolish to attempt such a feat. There are many things that will require your attention, but we leave the decissions of how to proceed up to you, or if you will allow it, up to me as your account manager. However, I would like to recommend that we begin by reading your parents Will along with the letters left with it and addressed to you, in the hope that this will shed some light at least on the situation and where else we should aim to go."

Nodding that he understood, Harry steeled himself for what was to come, before speaking.  
"I would like that, I've yet to hear anything written in my parents hand, let alone directed to myself."

Reaching into the first box of paperwork, Gripnook pulled out two sealed envelopes, handing the first to Harry while keeping the other on the desk in front of him. "This letter was left in my care along with your parents Will before they died, I will return to my figures and numbers while you read to give yourself some privacy." he clicked his fingers, and a tray appeared holding a large pot of tea, two cups and a selection of biscuits "help yourself to refreshments if you need them, Mr Potter, I have a feeling we are in for a long day, and although we goblins don't experience emotions quite like your kind, I have reason to believe this could be a trying time for you."

Not feeling that there was a reply needed, Harry instead slid his finger into the envelope, pulled out the letter and began to read.

Our dearest Son,  
If you're reading this then the worst has come to pass, and we aren't here with you. If that's the case, then we are truly more sorry than we can ever say that we didn't have the chance to see you grow up. We love you more than anything else in the world, and we hope you've had a happy childhood even though we weren't there to provide it. Never doubt our love for you, or how proud of you we are every second of every day, we know you'll grow up to be a fine man and achieve so much in your life. You already have so much of both of us in you, we can both already see the best of the other shining through in everything you do and all the little mannerisms you have. I hope growing up the stories you're told of us has made you see that too, and let you know that we are always with you, if not physically then inside at the very least.

You are strong, our son, and more powerful than I think you will ever know. After all, the prophesy was made about you, and that puts you in a great position of being able to change the world. But please do not put too much in store by just a prophesy, for prophesy and fate are only as powerful as you make them. If you choose to turn a different path, choose not to accept your "predetermined fate" then the world will have no choice but to accommodate that. Your only issue arises that Voldemort is not as likely to see it that way, and will try to hunt you down, but remember as long as you meet him on your terms your destiny is still your own, you are still in control and are still the boss of your own future. Nothing can control you outside of that.

We know that by the time you read this letter you will know a lot about yourself, and about us and the lives we lived, but we have some very important information to impart on you, things we weren't even able to share with our very closest friends, and so is not mentioned in our Will. Be aware, dear son, that at the time of writing this letter our theories are little more than just that, speculation based on research we have conducted, but that there is a lot more work to do before any real proof can be shown and before what we have found will stand for much in our society. This information is for now to be trusted only to your account manager, Gripnook, as we trust him to be descreet with his research into the matter, and to share any relivent finds with yourself, and with the authorities who need to know in due course.

The research we have conducted into magical heritage among Muggleborn Witches and Wizards has led us to believe that there is no such thing as a full muggleborn, that somewhere along the line they are a decendant of a squib. Often these squib decendants were forgotten or wiped from family trees, hense where the confusion and the assumption of "muggleborn" comes into play. Our research and our tests into the heritage of various muggleborns who agreed to consent has also given us a greater understanding into how the magic within a squib functions. You will find real details of this in our notes, which we have left to you in our Will, but for now we feel we must ask you not to reveal any of this. After all, until more proof is found, until there are tests to back up our theories they are just that, theories with no basis in fact. We know that you will of course be questioning your own heritage, knowing what you do just from this letter, and so we leave you with this bit of information before we sign off. Although we have no proof as yet, we believe that your mothers grandmother was the squib daughter of a large and powerful Wizarding family, known as Flamell, and it is that blood which runs through her veins and so through yours is one and the same as them. Due to going into hiding we haven't been able to do any more research into the matter, but we hope that you will at least be able to find out the truth, and find where it may lead you, for at this moment in time the only person to know of our suspicions is Albus Dumbledore, and we believe that he will continue our research after our deaths.  
We love you son, Live long, live happy, and never forget to love.  
Love always,  
Your Parents  
Lilly and James Potter.

Harry finished reading before laying the letter to one side, and looking up at where Gripnook still sat reading through his sheets of figures and numbers.

"Were you aware of the contents of this letter?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly under the pressure of what he had learned. Dumbledore, that was the name which has stood out for him despite the information about his possible heritage. Dumbledore, who had sworn that he had to live with his aunt and uncle as they were his only surviving blood relatives. Dumbledore who had made him suffer through eleven years of hell when he had more than enough power to send him elsewhere, to have him better protected with a family who would love him more than his aunt and uncle ever had, but were still his mothers blood, would still carry her protection within their veins, could still power the blood wards.

"I wasn't." came the candid reply. "But from your reaction I can conclude that it contained some things you were not expecting to hear, rather than just friendly words of advice and parental love. Perhaps we should read your parents Will, and then we can discuss this in more detail and work on ways to solve whatever it is that has angered you. After all, an angry account holder, especially one with as much power and wealth as yourself is never good news for the goblin nation as a whole, let alone the account manager dealt the hand of dealing with it."

Although he wasn't initially inclined to agree, Harry let himself breath before thinking for a second. He wanted to rant and rage and break things after reading his parents letter, he wanted to march straight to Albus Dumbledore and give him a piece of his mind, force the old man to explain exactly why he had spent so much time at Privet Drive, but the rational part of him saw that this wasn't necissarily the best idea. He wasn't nearly powerful enough to take on Dumbledore so had no hope of winning if it came to a duel, and also a part of him wondered just what other information he might be able to find out from the other document left by his parents. This, at least, he knew would have been read already by other benifactors, and so there could be no claims of ignorance regarding what had been said. Sighing, he nodded at Griphook that he could begin, and sat back to listen.

This is the last Will and Testament of James and Lilly Potter (ne Evans). We swear on our magic that this document is written with us both being of sound mind and body, and all decisions made are our own.

The most important thing, first and foremost and before we get into the interesting bits, is to impart some very important information onto those reading these words. If this will is being read then we didn't survive the war, and the fidius charm has failed. Contrary to popular belief our secret keeper was not Sirius Black, our best friend. We knew he was the most likely choice and so chose to use Peter Pettigrew instead, and had Albus Dumbledore cast the charm. If the charm has failed then our deaths are on his head, and we hope justice will be served against him if he survives the rest of the war.

In regards to the care of our son Harry, we request that the job of bringing him up goes to the Longbottom family, their son Neville is the same age and we know he will be cared for in the best possible way. If they are unable to take on the job then his care goes to Mr Sirius Black, his godfather, on the condition Ms Minirva McGonnigal has a large part of his upbringing too so he isn't brought up purely Marauder. In the unfortunate but horrifically quite likely case that neither of these are an option, we request that Harry be brought up by Mr Remus John Lupin, with help from any of our friends and family during his monthly cycles if it is needed, however we hope that due to his position as a benifactor from our Will that will no longer be as much of an issue.

Firstly to our dear friend Remus Lupin we leave a sum of 200,000 galleons so that he need not fight to find work and can finally live in the comfort he deserves. We also leave him the Potter property in the north of Scotland, and a 15 year supply of the potion Lilly has recently developed to counter his Furry Little Problem, under statis charms. We hope that these provisions will make his life a lot easier and allow him to focus on his true passions, and that one day he'll find someone to settle down with who see's his Furry Little Problem as just that.

Secondly to Lillys best friend Alice and her husband Frank we leave the meagre sum of 50,000 galleons, knowing that they do not need the money but wishing to leave them something of use. We also leave them the contents of the Potter greenhouses on the condition that any plants they do not find a use for be returned for our sons use in later years.

To Ms Minirva McGonnigal we leave the transfiguration notes and research as collected by James in the hope that some of the research concluded there will enlighten her in her own studies and one day even make it to publishing. We also leave her the sum of 30,000 galleons, 10,000 for her personal use and 20,000 for the use of improving the transfiguration department of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary, as well as the cottage on the south side of Hogsmeade and any books or items contained therein.

To Sirius Black we leave a sum of 200,000 galleons to spend in any way he can. We also leave him 50% of our stocks in the Daily Prophet, a total of 30% of the total stocks of the company to use as he will. We also leave him as the controller of our sons share in Marauder Industries, the joke business set up by James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, on the condition that he returns this control to Harry once he reaches the age of 16, and listens always to any creative advice Harry may give him before this time.

To Professor Filius Flitwick of Hogwarts school we leave 30,000 galleons, to be split 10,000 for his personal use and 20,000 towards improvements in the charms department in Hogwarts. We also leave him with Lilly's notes on charms in the hope he will enjoy her thoughts on the subject and find some interest in her discoveries.

To Severus Snape we leave the sum of 15,000 galleons and Lilly's potion notes, as well as the knowledge that he will always be in our hearts and we no longer hold a grudge for his part in the revilation of the prophesy that has sent us into hiding. We express on him that if anything has happened to us it is our own fault or the fault of others that we trusted, and that he is to feel no guilt or remorse over what he did, knowing that he acted only on what he believed was the be the best interests of all sides and striving as we were to put a quick and peaceful end to the war as soon as possible.

To Lilly's sister, Petunia Dursley, we leave the equivilent of 50,000 British Pounds as well as the cottage in Wales as left to Lilly after her parents death. Inside the cottage she should find copies of any documents relating to the Evans family as inherited by Lilly as the oldest daughter, including Pictures, Birth Certificates, Marraige Certificates and any other family items or history we have managed to collect through our intense research into Lilly's background.

To whoever should become our son's carer after our passing, we leave an additional 30,000 per year to cover expenses and the cost of raising a small boy, that his presence not be a financial burden upon any of our friends.

Finally, to our son and world, Mr Harry James Potter, we leave the rest of our worldly possessions, including the full contents of the Potter Vault and the properties who's deeds reside within. However we request that until the date of his 17th Birthday, he has access only to a trust fund to contain 20,000 per year for the duration of his time at Hogwarts. Until that point control of the Potter Accounts goes to his primary carer, at the discression of our account manager within Gringotts to ensure that nothing untowards can take place. In the case that our arangements for his care as documented at the beginning of this Will are not carried out we, as his parents, hereby declare Mr Harry James Potter emancipated and give him full control over his inheritance, to be managed at the discression of our account manager but taking into consideration his own desires, so that he cannot be manipulated by outside forces planning to take control of his wealth or status.

We leave this Will hoping that our last desires will be filled out to the best of the ablilities of both Gringotts and others we have left instructions too and in the hope that it need never be read, and that our son shall have a chance at a happy and bright future.  
Lilly and James Potter  
1 October 1981

**a/n:** A bit of a longer chapter than normal, and hopefully a trend that will continue. Next chapter will focus around Harrys reactions to what he has discovered, and will conclude the meeting with Gringotts as well as possibly moving onto the few days after the meeting. I am aware that this story is moving extremely slowly for now, but this will speed up once we reach Hogwarts in a few chapters time, and the story will continue to grow from there. Thank you so much to all my reviewers and watchers who have waited so long for this chapter, and hopefully you will continue to follow me for a long time to come.


	5. Chapter 5

Phew, this one took me a while to write! Sorry again for the ridiculous delays, it appears I can't actually stick to a writing schedule at the minute... My daughter is suffering from that horrible stage called separation anxiety and it means I can't write during the day, and by the time the house and everything else is done in the evenings I'm too tired to even consider concentrating on anything. To all my wonderful readers out there, I can only promise that this story will NOT be given up on, even if updates are irregular this story will be finished. It just might take a bit longer than originally planned. I will try to update as often as I can, and work as hard as I can in the time I get to keep this story running but obviously there are limits to what anyone can do, even if being a Mummy automatically makes you superwoman. And to any of you who is questioning the speed this story is moving at (another chapter of Gringotts) don't worry, it will speed up considerably once Harry returns to Hogwarts, and I have chapter plans made out for at least the next ten chapters of this story so my problem isn't writers block or lack of direction, it's just finding time to write what I know should go in.

**Disclaimer: Much as I wish I owned Harry Potter, I really don't.**

**Chapter 4:**

Harry had learned a lot from reading his parents Will, but more than that it brought up a lot of new questions, and emphasised the ones he had already started to wonder about. Most of all, he was questioning Dumbledore, and what role the man had actually played in his childhood. From what he could tell initially at least a lot of his problems had come from this man, and noone else was aware of it. It seemed a bit strange to him that everyone could put so much blind faith into someone who was clearly capable of such huge manipulations, and it made him really question the integrity of much of the wizarding world. Were they really that slow and unaware that they could put so much blind faith into one man without any real proof, or was Dumbledore playing more games than he was even starting to realize. What logic had come to pass that his parents Wills had been ignored to this level, that although there were many other people listed as his potential guardians the soul duty of providing his care had been left to the elderly headmaster. While he could understand to some extent why he couldn't have gone to Sirius, his imprisonment being a huge factor in that, and he understood that Nevilles parents had not been an option, he was left to wonder about why Lupin had not been chosen, or even how Sirius had been sent to Azkaban given the details revealed in this document. After all, it would have had to have been read at some point, or someone had to have had some idea of its contents for there was no way they could have just left it closed for that long without questioning it. The fact that Gringotts had been attempting to contact him for so long was in itself enough of a reason to wonder why it hadn't been opened. He sighed, before turning to Gripnook who had been sitting silently through his contemplations.

"This has brought up a lot of questions for me. I don't really understand the Wizarding customs against Muggle, but is there any chance you can clarify a few things for me, or at least try to make them make more sense. I'm not certain how much of it you'll be able to help me with, but noone else has ever even given me as much honest answers as you have already managed in just this short meeting."

"Ask your questions. We may not be able to help you at this moment in time but at least in the near future we can start to make sense of your affairs, and once you have exhausted your questions from the readings we can move onto other matters surrounding your accounts. It is of course most important that we understand the basics so that we don't get confused later on."

It made sense, he guessed. Better to have a basic understanding of his current questions so that he didn't get bogged down in whatever other information was there for him, though he did wonder what other revilations were to come. Was there really much more that he could learn at this point, because his parents Wills in themselves had given him a lot to digest.

"Firstly, I must ask who witnessed my parents Will. In the Muggle world there always has to be a witness to a Will signing, someone else who was there at the time and confirmed that it was all legit. I guess so that it can't be changed at a later date?"

"A fair question." came the reply, as Gripnook reached for his papers and began to reef through them. "It says on the paperwork I have here that the two witnesses to the signing of your parents Will were the Goblin clerk who handled the writing, and one Albus Dumbledore, although there is a note that he contested a lot of the clauses and pushed for some changes your parents were unwilling to make at the time, and that he was responsible for some items and clauses that weren't in the original document but your parents agreed to at the time of writing, under his suggestion."

More Dumbledore; it seemed he had been involved right from the beginning then, and had deliberately gone against what he knew was written. Even if he hadn't had a say in whether or not the Will had been read, he should have at least been able to push some of the points forward then, with his intimate knowledge of its contents.

"What changes did he ask for?" Harry asked, his voice cracking slightly. It was imperative he understood just what problems Dumbledore had developed with his parents wishes, so that he could understand more why things had ended up the way they were. It took several minutes of paper shuffling before he got his reply however, when Gripnook eventually pulled out three sheets from his stack and read through them, before looking up again giving what could only be described as a slightly evil smile.

"According to the notes taken by our scribe on the day, Mr Albus Dumbledore was unhappy about the lack of funds left to Hogwarts castle as a whole, he felt that a lump sum to the school itself would have been more beneficial than individual amounts to each staff member. He seemed more than disappointed that your parents notes and research were left to individual teachers rather than to the school itself, arguing repeatedly and often loudly that by offering these things just to the individuals they were essentially hurting the chances of the masses to learn. Your parents, however, were adamant that their research was just that as yet, and that it shouldn't be left as teaching material while there was still doubts within their findings.

Mr Dumbledore also requested repeatedly that there be some provision for money left to individual staff members be used within Hogwarts school, stating the argument that as members of his staff each beneficiary was already in recept of free home as well as a relevant income, so they had no need for the extra money or properties provided by your parents request. His view here was contested greatly but a compromise reached; in the original documents certain people had been left lump sums as well as property and notes, but in the revisions Dumbledore suggested a percentage of the monetary value of their benefits was to be used strictly within Hogwarts. When he attempted to push for a higher proportion your mother especially noted that noone could be expected to teach until they died and that each of their beneficiaries deserved the chance to live comfortably outside the castle as well.

Mr Dumbledore also contested your parents choices for guardianship should they not survive the war, and the choices they made regarding your future. He was especially against the idea of your care going to Mr Black and Mrs Mc Gonnigal, citing the argument that Mr Black was hardly the most mature of people to be bringing up a child and that Mrs Mc Gonnigal had other priorities within Hogwarts castle and so would not be able to give you the care or attention you deserved. He also raised concerns regarding their choice of Mr Remus Lupin as a potential guardian, stating that a werewolf would not be able to raise a child properly and that it would put you at untold risk to be left with them. He pushed repeatedly for the removal of the clause allowing for you to be emancipated if you weren't placed with one of your parents named, but was again refused by both your parents, your father in particular who referred to the fact that there was noone else he could trust not to use the Potter position or wealth to their own benefit.

Our scribe here notes that Mr Dumbledore became quite irate at this suggestion though hid his reaction well, and instead asked why there was no reason for you to become a ward of the state or Hogwarts since so many of your parents friends were on the staff of the school at the time. Your father referred back to Mr Dumbledore's previous arguments regarding Mrs McGonnigal against the suggestion of Hogwarts, and his previous comments regarding trust of the rest of the Wizarding population in relation to you becoming a ward of state and that idea in itself was quickly dropped, though Mr Dumbledore argued strongly for some financial control of your accounts or at least an advisory position in the unfortunate occasion that you would become emancipated. Neither request was granted since as friends of our nation both your parents knew that any guidance given by our people would be sound of nature."

Harry had to ask for the details to be repeated several times before what he had learned began to make sense, but Gripnook was patient with him and had no problem explaining the details he asked for. It was probably just as well, as without these extra explanations and clarifications it would have taken him a lot longer to reach what he felt was the obvious conclusion; Dumbledore wanted control over him and his assets, and he didn't like being told no. he was wiling, it appeared to go to just about any level he could to gain this control, ignoring peoples wishes and working only towards his own goals.

"Who currently has control over my finances?" He questioned, and although he was expecting an unpleasant answer he was not expecting the one he received.

"Your accounts were treated as if there was no Will connected to them, meaning ownership of all contents were passed to yourself, with guardianship and control over all assets going to your legal guardian until you were old enough to take that position yourself. The guardian at the time has not changed over the years and currently stands as one Vernon Dursley."

Letting out a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding Harry allowed himself to relax slightly; the fact that the Dursleys were Muggles and unable to access Diagon Alley or Gringotts meant that his money had more than likely stayed safe and untouched right? Wrong it appeared, as Gripnook continued.

"Upon gaining custody of yourself, Mr Dursley was also provided with details for the Bank of England account connected to your vaults here at Gringotts, and since then has made regular withdrawals much above the amount stipulated in your parents Will to provide for your future. There was also a regular amount removed from your accounts and directed to go to the Headmasters vault at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardary although it is unclear whether or not Mr Dursley was aware of this fact. There are several other regular outgoings we will of course look into in due course, but it could take some time to make sense of where these funds are going and for what purpose."

He was raging, how dare this man do that?! After bringing him up believing that he was nothing other than a burden on them, that they received nothing for his care, Harry was now finding that he had in fact paid mostly for his guardians extravagant lifestyle from his own pocket. This meant that almost all of the presents received by Dudley over the years had come from him, while he had been forced to live in clothes no better than rags, with nothing new ever given to himself. He was ready to ask more questions when he was interrupted by Gripnook, who had glanced at a large clock mounted on the wall before starting slightly.

"Apologies Sir, but it appears we have gone long over the allocated time for our meeting. We will of course arrange a secondary meeting in the near future, and in that time I can hopefully be more prepared and have some time to go through more details pertaining your accounts and their current status."

Harry sighed; just as they were starting to get somewhere it seemed that he would have to stop, and go back to his thinking on his own while at the same time dealing with a lot more difficult information and trying to make some sense of it. In the mean time though, there was something he might be able to do to make him feel at least slightly better about the situation.

"Is there any way we can block Muggle access to my accounts for now, or is that impossible since I'm underage and I understand that until I can claim my inheritance legally it will fall automatically to my guardians. I don't want to block magical access since that will pull up too many questions I'm not ready to answer yet, but I would be interested to find out exactly to whom my money is going at the earliest convenience."

The Goblin grinned, before standing up and ushering the young man to the door "Consider it already done, Mr Potter. Noone else need know of your visit to us today. We will of course be in contact over the next several days with more details and to arrange another meeting in the near future, preferably before the return to Hogwarts in September."

**a/n:**

Oh dear Dumbledore is a controlling old fool isn't he! I know the goblins talking in this chapter could have been a bit monotonous and boring, but it was important to place the grounding for the first stage of the manipulations Harry will have to deal with. Over the next few chapters he will begin to try and make more sense of the reasons why, as well as finding out more information though this will hopefully be the last chapter which is all talking and theorizing on his part. After this we're likely to see some more action, although I don't want to make my Harry all superpowerful and able to react perfectly to every situation, there are likely to be some emotional breakdowns coming because Harry is just a human boy, and finding out that the people you've trusted that much has got to mess anyone up a lot. As yet we've seen him as only a cool collected person able to deal with whatever the Gripnook can throw at him, but don't expect this to last! In cannon Rowling made Harry too able to deal with everything, too Heartless in a way because he never showed much emotion or natural reactions with the things he faced, and I plan to rectify this! Next chapter Harry is back at the Dursleys and the aftermath of at least one of the things he managed to put in place at Gringotts becomes apparent! Thanks for taking the time to read, and please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks everyone for the response to the last chapter, as always it is very appreciated! I should have (and planned to have) this chapter up weeks ago, but life just doesn't seem to work out that way, and it looks like my writing time might be even more limited for the forseeable future. I'll still be working whenever I can, and I give you my promise that this story won't be left to rot like so many others are, but I can't tell you exactly when to expect updates, just that they will be coming at some point. Previously I had set times in the day when I could and would attempt to get some writing done, but that just isn't likely to happen at the minute; I'm writing this in a few minutes I've got off but that could stop at any minute!

This chapter is dedicated to my beautiful second-born daughter, Tara Rosalyn-Louise, who made her appearance three weeks early on 16th May 2013, weighing a healthy 6lb 7.6oz. Welcome to the world little girlie! It's also for my Dad, Kevin R Gibbons, who's birthday is on the 4th June, the day I managed to finally (after weeks of work) bring this chapter to its conclusion. Happy Birthday Old Man, I Miss you and Love you every single day.

**Disclaimer: **I started writing this the same as Rowling did, as a single mum feeding a small child, but I'm not a millionaire yet so I'm clearly not her.

**Chapter five:**

He was transported back into his room in Privet Drive from the foyer of Gringotts, and instantly collapsed on his bed, thoughts running riot through his mind. Even though they hadn't covered much in his meeting it had given him a lot to think about, a lot of things to run through his mind and try and make sense of.

First and foremost, he knew that in the near future he would be forced to deal with the fallback from his actions within the bank. It was only a matter of time before the Dursleys noticed that they no longer had access to his accounts, and then there was almost sure to be some type of kick off. On top of that there was going to be some reaction from Dumbledore, because he doubted he would be able to hide his knowledge from the man for very long; while he might not have put a stop to the mans payouts as yet it was only a matter of time before he did that, because he wasn't letting anyone keep wiping out his inheritance if he could help it. Even though it was still early, Harry felt like he had ran a marathon, and rather than deal with his family that night he instead pulled the blankets over his head, curled up and let sleep take him. His thoughts would be better left to the morning when he had the chance to clear his head.

Harry awoke next morning and lay silently for a few minutes gathering his thoughts and thinking about all the changes that appeared to be coming way too fast. He hadn't even had time over the past week or so to think much about Sirius, and he felt a slight amount of guilt for this. It was quickly disipated however, when he forced himself to realize that he was doing just what Sirius would have wanted by taking control of his own life and putting his things in order. Thinking of Sirius, however, made him wonder if his godfather had ever made a Will. He hadn't been made aware of his parents Wills, and so it stood to reason that someone would also try to withhold any benifits from his godfathers last wishes he was likely to gain. Making a mental note to ask the goblins about it at the next chance he got, he dragged himself out of bed and dressed slowly before making his way downstairs.

His morning passed quietly as he found himself some breakfast then retired to his room and began to tackle some of his summer homework. He knew there were other things he should have been focusing on, things he should really have been thinking about and trying to make sense of, but at that time it was just too much to deal with. He was better off, he decided, focusing on menial tasks which while stimulating didn't require him to think about his predicament, than to spend the next few days struggling through endless thoughts and emotions he had no way of releasing. While he didn't doubt that there would be some protections in place should he have a breakdown and create accidental magic he didn't see it as worth the risk. Instead of fussing around over it and letting it get to him too badly, he instead settled down to write a few letters to his friends. While he doubted greatly that he could even trust them after the manipulations he had found in his accounts, he didn't want to believe that they would have done that to him, and moreso he knew that it would look suspicious if he didn't try and contact them, that it would raise questions he didn't feel he wanted to answer just yet. Instead, he decided, it was better to focus on more neutral areas; he hadn't given the prophesy much thought since he came home and homework was always a safe thing to talk about to his friends. They wouldn't question much if he wrote to them about topics they believed would be worrying him, and that would leave him more space to focus personally on the things that really were giving him problems. Sitting down at his desk he pulled a quill and parchment towards him, and began to write.

Hermione,

I hope this letter finds you well and that you are recovering well after what happened in the Ministry. I know you suffered a lot there and there are no words I can use to appologise for what I put you through; I should have known better and should have listened to you when you said not to go, but my emotions got the better of me. As you well know I couldn't bare to leave Sirius suffer on his own, and it's my fault now that he died. I think that is a situation that will haunt me for the rest of my life, that a mans death is on my hands is one of the hardest things I think I will ever have to deal with, let alone that he was my godfather and the closest thing to a parent I had. I miss him terribly every day and wish he was here with me, there are so many things I still wanted to ask him, so many stories I know he had about my parents I know I will never learn now. I wish I had taken the time I had with him to talk to him more about these things, actually asked him questions instead of being caught up in my own world and my own thoughts. What type of person am I that I couldn't even do that much for him, that I couldn't even give him the time to ask him the questions I know he was dying to answer? Clearly not a good one, because I should have wanted to know more about my biological parents and who they were rather than focusing on my own problems.

How is your homework coming along? I know by now you have probably finished everything we were set, but I also know that you're probably doing even more research to pad out your essays and add that extra edge to them. Have you found out anything interesting about any of the topics? I've started some of the essays but the information in our books seems to lack somewhat, so I was wondering if you could possibly share with me anything else you've learned? Doing my work away from school has made me realize just how valuable a recourse the Hogwarts library actually is, and how little is contained within our school books. I would assume, though I might be wrong, that this is because as students we are expected to do some personal study on top of our course material, but due to my lack of access to Diagon Alley I can't exactly get hold of any more books. How did you get past this, or do your parents take you regularly?

I'm trying not to think too much about the prophesy; I know if I think too much about what it said I'll start to go insane, and with noone here to bounce my thoughts off and around that's probably not a good idea. I know you will have given it some thought though, so care to share what your conclusions are? The Dursleys are treating me as well as to be expected, although I'm mainly trying to keep out of their way as much as possible to avoid agrivating them any more. Not that its hard to do that, my very presense seems to send them into a mood which I just don't feel up for dealing with right now. It's a lot easier just to hide in my room and work on my homework and reading our school books over than face the inevitable fights if I dare to enter the rest of the house. At least it's given me the chance to reread a lot of our books, and I think I am finally making some sense out of the history course... it's so much easier to understand when you're not trying to learn from an old ghost who only speaks in one tone!

Please write back to me soon, I look forward to hearing from you.

Your friend,

Harry.

He put the finished letter to one side, hoping that it would keep his friend distracted enough that she wouldn't ask any questions about how he was dealing, and what he was doing with himself throughout the summer. His comments had been vague enough that they should cover anything she might ask, but also detailed enough that she wouldn't pick up on the deceit.

He had written a lot about Sirius, but although he hated to admit it much of it was lies. He did think of his godfather at times, but since the mans death he had realized that he'd never really had that much time to know him, and that horrible as it might have sounded the only reason he was as special to him as he had started to become was because he was a connection to his parents, and also a sign of hope that he might be able to escape from his relatives. He hadn't know the man long or well enough to form any real emotional bond, and had instead rushed to his aide as he would to anyone else he knew who was in that position. It might have not have been the best way to be, but it was inbuilt into his personality that he would have to help people, mainly, he assumed, because noone had ever been there to help him before. To some this might have been a reason to reject everyone else, but in his mind it just seemed more of a reason to help others, so that they wouldn't have to go through nearly as much pain and suffering as he had in his childhood, and if he was honest since attending Hogwarts too.

The more he thought about it the more he began to realize just how much worse his life had been since attending the school. No, he hadn't had friends or felt he belonged before, but at least his life hadn't been in danger, and it seemed that since entering the magical world there had constantly been someone trying to kill him. His upbringing before discovering his heritage might have been nothing special, but he had never suffered any real physical abuse apart from where he was forced to sleep, and the more he thought about it the more he realized he would take that over genocidal maniacs trying to kill him at every turn any day. Sure, magic was fun and useful in a lot of ways, but it also blocked a lot of his options off from him and made a lot of things he had always wondered about near impossible. As far as he knew there were very few options of employment in the wizarding world outside those directly relating to magic, and it made him wonder yet again how the Wizards got by in their day to day lives. It was clear that somewhere along the line a lot of Muggles were employed to help with a lot of services, or that a lot of Muggle produce was slipped into the market and then enchanted. He knew it would take a lot of research, but this realization was sure to turn the pureblood world on their head if he ever made his suspicions public. After all, how could anyone claim that they were a better race and didn't need the non magical community if a lot of their items were created within said community, if they had no way of getting by without it. Ron might be able to help him with this given his fathers job, he mused, and it would be something menial and irrelivent to fill a letter with. Anything to keep the truth from his friends until he knew who had done what, plus writing his letters was serving to be a welcome distraction.

"Hey mate

How's the summer treating you? I hope the twins aren't getting into too much trouble or giving your mum even more reason to go on major rants. Things here are the same as ever, I'm going mad stuck in the same house as the Dursleys but I know that's what's best even if I don't like it, so I'm putting up with it. Staying out of their way seems to work okay, even if it's boring as hell stuck in my room all the time. I'm actually doing my homework, not that you'd ever believe life could get that boring! I guess anything to keep me distracted from the boredom though, I just wish I could get out and fly again! I'm really starting to understand why Sirius got so frustrated stuck in Grimmauld Place all the time, its horrible not being able to get out and get as much fresh air as you want. I guess I just get too used to Hogwarts and having the grounds to explore, my families garden just isn't big enough and I get really bored of planting and looking after the same plants all the time. Did you know Muggle flowers aren't even dangerous or can't bite back? Where's the fun in that! At least if they could bite I could feed Dudley to them; I might ask Professor Sprout if she has anything I could grow here when we get back to school. Are you getting to play much Quidditch? I'd love to be able to just get on a broom and distract myself but instead all I'm really doing it sat here thinking about Sirius and that god damn prophesy... I just wish there was more I could be doing but obviously we can't do magic outside of school so I'm stuck, I can't even do any research because I don't know what books to order and can't go to Diagon Alley. Could you possibly have a look next time you get out and see what you can find for me if Molly even lets you out? I'll pay you back of course!

Have fun and I'll see you soon hopefully, If I ever escape this place at least!

Harry."

Sealing both letters, he put them aside to wait for Hedwig to return from wherever it was she had gone, and started again on his homework. Despite being aware he was ahead in many senses on his charms work (his patronus was proof of that) he found a lot of the theory quite difficult to comprehend at times. The basic principals he could understand without much problem, it was when things got more in depth that he had difficulties. The basic premise of charms seemed to be simple; wave your wand with the correct intent and things would happen, but it was when he looked more into the details that he got bogged down. His school books just didn't seem to explain enough, he knew there must be more to it than just _swish and flick_. After all, charms could be used for so many different things, there had to be a reason why they had been developed in such a way. In fact, the more he read through his school texts the more he realized just how much what they were taught was lacking in information. It seemed that it was just assumed that students would know the principals, but coming from a Muggle background by upbringing if not birth many of the assumptions seemed alien to him. How could someone with no knowledge of the world be expected to know all the things that were second nature to those brought up around magic? Groaning at the thought of who the obvious person to ask about information available to muggles would be, he pulled the letter he had written to Hermione back to him and added a quick postscript.

"Do you happen to have any books about the magical world from a Muggle perspective, and if you do could I borrow them? I'm realizing more and more how little we are told about what to expect, and how much information our books are lacking just 'cause they're written for people already accustom to magic."

A few days later Harry had slowly slipped into a pattern with his days. In the mornings he focused on his homework before heading downstairs to prepare lunch for himself and the Dursleys. After lunch he normally spent the time trying to focus his mind and organize the information he had gained from the Goblins as well as writing endless lists about what he wanted to ask and what he needed to find out. He had taken the initiative and ordered several books from Diagon Alley and was finding them a lot more informative and interesting than the ones set by his school. It hadn't taken long for Hermione to get back to him, and while she was unable to provide him with books herself (her reasoning being that she still needed them) she was able to recommend a few, which he added to the list he sent backwards and forwards with Hedwig.

It was just past lunch time and he was sat at his desk reading through some of the books about Wizarding culture and the Wizarding court system when he heard the voices he had been waiting for since he had closed the Dursley's access to his accounts.

"I can't access the bloody accounts! That boy must have done something" the angry sounds of his uncles voice could be heard reaching through the whole house, and Harry lifted his head from where he had been organizing his notes, a slight smile on his face. Here came the drama he had been waiting for, the question was just how big a deal Vernon would be able to make it into and how much of the well deserved blame would be placed on his head. After all, there wasn't much they could reasonably do to him given that as far as they were aware he hadn't left the house all summer, but his family weren't exactly known for being reasonable.

"What do you mean sweetie? Did you ask the bank? Did they say anything to you about what had happened?" That was his aunt, calm for now but building her information to use against him when the time came. His uncle might have been the louder of the two, the more likely to use his body or a weapon as punishment, but his aunt was just as bad in her own way. Collected and vindictive, she would gather information and then use it against him later, as an excuse to add other chores to his lists or to throw back in his face when he was low. His uncles ways might have hurt physically, but it was his aunts psychological warfare which caused the more painful and long lasting damage.

"We were closed out of the accounts!" came the angry reply "That little shit must have done something to them, because the bank said the accounts had been moved to another bank and wouldn't tell me anything else!"

"Did you tell them that we were his guardians and financial controllers?" Still calm, Harry could sense his aunts anger building as she thought hard about what could have happened and what she could do about it. Harry had long suspected she knew more about the magical world than she let on, and this would really be the test of just how much she knew or how much she was willing to learn if it benefitted her. Closing their access to his accounts was a weight off his shoulders as it meant that they couldn't steal more of his money, but it was also a test to see just how devious his family could be; how much they were willing to blame on him and how much of their unwillingness to deal with the magical world could be diminished when money was involved.

"Of course I did! Hours I spent in there and even the manager wouldn't do what I told him to! All I could get off him was that the funds were based in another bank and redirected through B.O.E, but they'd lost the control to another bank now! They wouldn't give me anything after that, the mad bastard actually had the cheek to say that it was against bank policy to give out confidential information about other customers. As if we haven't been their best customers for the past fifteen years because of the money in the boys accounts. You know full well I wouldn't have kept him here if it wasn't for all his money!"

Harry heard a bang as if a fist had hit something hard and couldn't help but smile to himself... With those few words his uncle had dropped himself in a situation that could be manipulated. Standing up, he left his room and made his way quickly down the stairs. Yes the actions he was going to take might aggravate the situation in the short term, but he had to think of long term benefits too and getting admission from his family about what they were doing and instigating a large fight would give him ample reason to leave. The fact the fight was about his money would give him a good reason to visit Gringotts again, and if Dumbledore was to stand in the way he would have reasonable standing to speak to the Ministry of Magic about the situation and force through even more of what he wanted.

"What money?" he asked, entering the kitchen where his aunt was stood by the sink filling the kettle and his Uncle was, as he had previously suspected, sat at the breakfast bar, his fist clenched as if he had just thumped it. "What accounts have been closed?"

"Non of your buisness." came the terse reply, but that wasn't acceptable in Harrys eyes. After all, he had heard enough to cause a real argument and find out a lot, and he wasn't going to let this chance go to waste.

"I heard you talking about accounts being closed, and blaming me. And talking about my money. What money? I thought I was an orphan with nothing."

"There is no money. We were talking about Dudley's accounts." his aunt replied, just as his uncle spoke himself

"Don't poke your nose in where it's not wanted boy, that's what got your parents killed!"

That was it; the last nail in the coffin as far as his "family" were concerned. All thoughts of playing things nicely were thrown out of the window as Harry let his instincts take over, saying all the things he had always wanted to say but hadn't dared, telling more than he had ever planned but at the same time letting loose for the first time in his life.

"Don't you dare talk about my parents, you fat scumbag!" He yelled, all composture lost. "They were better people than you could ever be and died to save me, not that you would know anything about that level of parental love! I don't think you'd even care if something happened to Dudley so long as your pockets were filled with the insurance money afterwards!"

He heard his aunt gasp in horror at his words, but continued anyway knowing that if he stopped now he would never say what he wanted and that his punishment wouldn't even nearly be worth it. He needed to work himself up to the point of no return or he wouldn't be able to leave, wouldn't have enough evidence against his aunt and uncle to walk away without being forced back. Turning his attention back to his Uncle, he continued his tirade.

"Just because you're uncaring unless your wallet is fat that doesn't mean everyone is the same. I know about my money, I found out about it last week no thanks to you, and I know how much you've stolen from me over the years! Say what you like, I know what type of arguments you'll come out with to defend yourself, and I also know that the amount you've taken from my accounts over the years is no-where _near _how much you actually spent on me. I'm not blind to reality, even if you think I am. I know most of my money went on Dudley, and that you only spent the bare minimum needed to keep me living, if that! Ever since going to school I've struggled against your lack of teaching, against things you should have told me all along but didn't feel the need to! How you didn't expect me to find out about this is foolish at best, if not bordering on absolute stupidity, you're just lucky that it took me this long. I can promise you one thing at least, and that is that you will never see another penny out of my accounts. I don't care what Dumbledore told you about having as much rights to them as you wanted, about there being nothing that I could do to stop it, he clearly chose not to tell you some very important information there! If he had cared at all about you, about anything other than keeping you sweet, then he would have told you that he had broken the law when he gave me into your care. I've seen my parents Will, I've seen that you had no rights to me and that you were the last people who were meant to have me!"

"There was a letter." his aunt again, trying to justify their actions somehow, though Harry doubted there was anything she could say that would ever help them save face after his treatment at their hands. "Dumbledore left us a letter saying that Lilly's Will had been read and that we were to look after you until they came to get you."

"And you believed him?" He was furious, and he let it show. "You believed the word of a man who would leave a child on a doorstep in the middle of winter with nothing but a blanket and a letter to cover his presence there?! I know you're not the best parents but _anyone_ would have known that was a bad idea! Surely there must have been some tiny part of you who thought it was wrong, that you couldn't trust what he said! I want to see this supposed letter, find out for myself what bullshit he's been spreading to justify his actions, but for now you need to know that by placing me here he failed both me and you horribly. By leaving me here all those years ago he made me legally an adult in the eyes of the law meaning that all the abuse you put me through since I got left with you can be tried as against an adult; by keeping me here against my Will for all this time I could get you tried for kidnap and imprisonment, and that's not even taking into consideration everything else! The money you've taken from me is fraud, and while I don't know the exact figures as yet I can assure you my bankers are on the case and will soon find out just how much you've fleeced from me! You're just very lucky I didn't demand your arrest as soon as I found out what you'd done; I thought I'd give you a chance to explain why you did what you did but based on your reactions you're never going to tell me the truth."

There were splutters of protest at his words but he continued through it, ignoring the filthy looks thrown in his direction. He had started, and he would finish, voicing all the thoughts that had been stuck in his head for way too long!

"I'm a lot more intelligent than anyone else living in this mistake of a house, and before you even think about saying it that has _nothing_ to do with being magical. Petunia could have been clever, she was when she was growing up, but thanks to your attitude and your treatment she's lost all that. How can you expect anyone to have any type of intellect in a house which condones any form of reading and intelligent discussion in favor of staring at that box of mindless rubbish you call a tv! And you wonder why Dudley is failing so horribly at everything he attempts in school?! When have either of you ever sat down with him to do his homework, or encouraged him to turn the telly off for even 20minutes to read a book or play a board game? Unless things are very different when I'm at Hogwarts then it's been never! You might have abused me physically and through neglect, but it is nothing compaired to what you have done to that poor boy and one day you'll come to realize it. Not now, probably not for many years, but one day you'll look back on these years and wonder where you go wrong, and then but only then you will realize just what damage you did to someone who could have one day grown up to do well. You've succeeded in one way, you've raised two polar opposites, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that either of us are nice or well balanced people. Your son is fat, and a bully. He relies purely on his weight and strength to gain what he wants from life without a thought for the consequences. I've seen slugs with more intellect and subtlety than Dudley, and that's saying something! He will never amount to anything but a bully, and thanks to your actions he won't even have money to back him. My parents had left you both some money, but thanks to your actions and the amount you've taken from me you can be sure you won't see any of that, and anything you have seen of it will be taken back threefold. I may be taking your inheritance back from you, and I'm sure that you will attempt to cause a fuss over this, even take me to court over it, but unlucky for you that won't do anything. Since visiting with my bankers last week I've discovered a lot of things about my life which should have been clear from the beginning. Not least that I am legally an adult and don't exist within your world; all records of my existence here failed to exist the day I started at Hogwarts, meaning you would be opening a case about a nobody, a non existence. Do your worst, because my world doesn't look well on people like you, for your lack of magic let alone the abuse you put me through as a child! I'm leaving, now, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. You can say what you want to Dumbledore, try your hardest to make him get me back and get you my money back, but it won't work. I'm legally an adult, there's nothing anyone can do to keep me in this hell hole any more, and if nothing else my fame allows me certain leeways to get away with doing magic on you if you even try to stop me. You can expect a letter from my bankers in the next few weeks about returning the stolen funds from me, and I think it would be best if you tried to get it sorted out before then. After all, no-one wants to mess with a goblin!"

Finishing his tirade Harry didn't wait for a reply, instead just turned his back on his so called family and made his way up the stairs to his room. Throwing all his belongings into his trunk and shrinking it down to size he grabbed his broom and swung his invisibility cloak around him. Jumping out the window, he swung his broom under him and took off into the afternoon sky. Statute of secrecy be damned, a few obliviated muggles were nothing compared to what the Ministry would have to deal with when he went public about his childhood.

**A/N**

Wow wow wow, this is my longest chapter to date! Not much of this was originally planned, but things just seemed to run away from me and it ended up over 5000 words! Non of Harrys rant at the Dursleys was planned, neither was the way he left their home, but this chapter just took on a life of its own and I'll admit I chose just to run with it rather than try and force things to go my way... when a plot bunny strikes you really have no choice but to follow it down the rabbithole! Originally I had planned to leave Harry with the Dursleys until the end of the summer and use his knowledge of their messing with his money as blackmail, but Harry in my story just decided to take a more assertive role and head off in his own direction... I guess we'll just have to wait and see where that leads him; by going off this way it has changed a lot of my plans for the next few chapters! Keep reading, keep reviewing, and I'll try to update again soon!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:**

**Chapter Six:**

The flight to London took several hours, but this was mainly due to the fact that Harry didn't dare to stop. To stop would give Dumbledore and his croneys time to catch up with him, time to follow the trace he was pretty sure was on his wand. After all, why would they _not_ have ways to monitor him, since he was supposedly so important to the war effort. If he was honest though Harry was starting to doubt just how important the prophesy was, there was a tiny part of him that even suspected it could be made up as an excuse to keep control of him, and through him his finances.

While the flight itself should have only taken an hour or so at most, Harry was being extra cautious, taking into consideration one of the few things he had learned from Barty Grouch Jr while he was masquerading as Moody. Constant Vigilance, that was the key, and with his round about route anyone would be hard pressed to follow him or work out where he was heading. He was, of course, heading for Gringotts to talk to the Goblins. He needed to get his emancipation official, that much was clear to him although the rest of his path was blurry at best. After all, what could he really do given his current situation, without enraging people who unfortunately had a lot more power and control than he had. All it would take would be one person to question some of his actions in the past and the game would be over, they would declare him unfit to be an adult and not only make his position as a legal adult null and void, but also have the potential to keep him behind bars for even longer.

It was half five in the afternoon before Harry reached London and the area close to the leaky cauldron. Landing, he made sure his broom was covered by the cloak as well and made his way through the wards and into the alley, waiting by the entrance until someone else came along and opened it then slipping in silently behind them. Reasonably he supposed it wouldn't have done much harm to use his wand and make things easier, shrinking his broom would have made walking under the cloak a lot less awkward, but while using magic in Privet Drive was harmful it at least placed him somewhere he was supposed to be. If he was to use magic in London before he got the trace taken off he would have the full ministry down on him in a second, he didn't doubt that Dumbledore would have people looking for him at least, and more than likely he had the ministry on his side too. The joy of celebrity, whether wanted or not, was that people wanted to know where you were 24/7 and you couldn't walk out in public without people paying you notice. While he had admittedly noticed the fuss around him fading in his years in the magical world, it was still there and there was always someone who didn't have anyone at Hogwarts who would make a big deal about his presence, demand a quick conversation or an autograph.

Getting from the Leaky Cauldron to Gringotts proved to be more of a challenge than any of his journey so far. The magical community was a lot more aware of the possibility of invisibility and more on the look out for things that were slightly unusual, which made walking hard because he couldn't risk bumping into anyone or anything along the way. Muggles might assume something brushing against them was just imagined or a random shiver in the air, but witches and wizards were a lot more suspicious by nature and likely to raise a wand first, ask questions later. It was a negative of the world, he assumed as he tiptoed cautiously around the edge of the alley towards his destination. There were positives and negatives to each, and it was just finding the balance that noone seemed to have achieved as yet. Maybe he should become a hermit, he laughed quietly to himself, live out his life in the muggle world using magic only within his own home or in extreme circumstances. Or maybe when things calmed down he should head elsewhere all together, try and find somewhere which didn't differentiate so much between the magical and muggle worlds and he could enjoy the best of both. It was something he should look into when he got the chance, he supposed, because the British society seemed extremely backwards in its attitude to Magic vs Muggle; there had to be a way for them both to live in harmony.

He reached the front doors of the bank and paused. What should he do, he couldn't exactly take off his cloak and walk in since the risk of being seen by someone he shouldn't was too great, but the Goblins didn't seem to take very well to people trying to use disguises around them. It was a catch twenty-two, but one which was quickly solved as one of the guards around the door beckoned him over with a subtle twist of his finger.

"May I ask what you were doing standing around staring at our doors, and under a cloak as fine as yours? It is unbecoming of a Wizard to sneak around unless you have alteriour motives on your mind."

It was the opportunity he had been waiting for, and one Harry dived on without a moments thought. It wasn't like he would get another chance like this, if he didn't answer the Goblin would be as likely to kill him than talk to him, and it wasn't like he was going to get another chance to get inside without being noticed. However, he didn't want to give away too much to just anyone, he had realized already just how much Goblins valued subtlety but a strong hand in their dealings, to give away too much would just make him appear weak in the eyes of their nation.

"My business is between myself and my accounts manager, however it should be enough for you that I am the Heir of at least one, potentially three Noble Houses, and I am here to claim that which is rightfully mine."

He brushed the hair away from his scar and caught the instant recognition in his companions eye; clearly all the staff of the bank had been made aware of this possibility and what to do in that situation, or at least that he wasn't to be disturbed or asked too many questions. While he hated using his fame, using his scar to gain recognition without speaking his name was something he felt okay with; it wasn't something he could change and it did serve as adequate for revealing his identity to only a select few.

A nod from the Goblin confirmed without doubt that his identity had been recognized, and the following statement, while confusing, served to set Harry's mind at rest.

"Very well Mr Potter. I must however ask that you remove your cloak, fine as it may be, before we enter the bank proper. After all, privacy our nation understands but secrets and lies we will not stand for."

"But what of my enemys?" He muttered in reply "My circumstances are uncomfortable at the minute, and I would prefer not to bring inevitable strife and potential violence to your doorstep."

"Worry not about that, young sir. Our nation may not be very well respected within your society but we have our standards and our rules just like you. From the moment you stepped within a fifteen foot radius of our front doors you were on Goblin territory, and under our protection. No-one would dare to touch you while you are this close to us; if it makes you feel any better I will walk by your side with my sword drawn."

There was a slight laugh

"Though that might bring even more unwanted attention than if you slipped behind this post, removed your cloak and walked inside with the confidence becoming one of your station."

Understanding the logic of his companions words, Harry slipped behind the gestured column and pulled his clock off, slipping it into his pocket and taking his broom firmly in his hand with pride. He might not want to show off his wand as it could be taken as confrontational, but a firebolt was in itself a good enough way to show his wealth until he could go shopping. Having grown up with nothing, then not being in a position where he could risk having anything for fear of his family taking it away, Harry Potter was a boy who was looking forward to finally being able to spend some money.

*** inside Gringotts***

Upon entering the bank Harry was expecting quite a long wait, but he was pleasantly surprised. While in the past he had needed to wait for some time before dealing with a desk clerk and being ushered towards the vaults, it seemed things were different if you knew your entitlements or had an account manager you wished to see. Maybe it helped that he knew about his money now, and was clearly there on serious business and not to be messed with but somehow he doubted it, the Goblins seemed to appreciate subtlety rather than brash shows of power, and he found their attitudes easier to deal with than Wizards. While goblins might be sneaky at times, you generally knew where you stood with them if you took the time to pay attention to what they thought rather than just ignore them as if they were animals. Show a goblin respect and he would show you the same; show a wizard respect and he would use that to gain power over you and throw it back in your face.

He had only been in the entrance hall for a few seconds before he noticed a young looking goblin rushing towards him, slightly clumbsy on his feet which Harry could only assume was the combination of his young age mixed with the heavy armor plating his chest.

"Sir, Gripnook will see you now if that's convenient."

"That will be more than acceptable, I'm here to see him anyway before I even contemplate dealing with any other issues."

"Very well, if you could follow me."

The younger the Goblin, the less chatty they appeared to be, Harry observed as they moved in silence through the stone halls and walkways into the depth of Gringotts and his account managers offices. Reaching their destination his companion knocked twice on the door, before opening it, ushering Harry inside and disappearing back down the halls before waiting for a goodbye. Slightly rude, Harry thought, but just another thing he would need to learn about Goblin Culture if he was to build a good working relationship with the nation.

"Welcome, Mr Potter." he looked up, and a slight smile crossed his lips at the sight of his account manager, slowly becoming his friend, sitting at the wooden desk.

"Good afternoon Sir, and thank you for seeing me at such short notice."

"I wouldn't call it short, we suspected you were on your way the moment you left your relatives house, my only question is why it took so long for you to get here."

"You knew?"

"Of course Mr Potter, but I believe you should tell me what you can of the situation before I explain any more. After all, our nation shouldn't give away our secrets to those who can't be trusted."

It made sense, and taking the offered seat Harry thought it was only prudent that he told what he could of his situation, of what had driven him to take the action he had.

"I was sticking to the original plan originally, waiting patiently for my aunt and uncle to discover that they couldn't access my accounts then planning on gaining blackmail material from them and using it against them for the rest of the summer, to make the experience more bearable. I was doing well too, I kept my cool after they found out and was holding it together but then my uncle mentioned my parents. I know I shouldn't have reacted but it drove me over the edge."

There was a nod of understanding from Gripnook.

"While we goblins pride ourselves on our control and ability to manipulate a situation Honor is also a very relevant factor in our lives. To offend someones honor requires a backlash, whether it is the right thing at the time or not. Noone inside our walls will judge you for any actions taken while defending the memory of your deceased loved ones, it simply shows loyalty and strength of character that is sorely lacking from your people as a rule."

"I didn't use my wand if that's what you're afraid of." Harry hastened to reassure the goblin "I kept my cool in that respect, but I said a lot of harsh words. While nothing I said was untrue, I will admit in retrospect that I chose the wrong time to bring up the issues I had with my family. I would have been better waiting until I had cooled my mind, gathered more information and then brought my issues up in a more calm manner and when I had something I could use to manipulate them so there couldn't be a backlash."

"Hindsight is a wonderful thing."

"It is, but I'm not very good at thinking before I act. Everything I've gone through has been based on acting on instinct rather than thinking things through, I've not often been left with the _time_ to think about consequences; its a hard thing to manage when there's a wand pointed at your chest."

"I can only imagine, but this still doesn't explain why you left, why you're here now and we're talking face to face several weeks sooner than we had scheduled through our communications."

"I left. I had said too many things and it seemed better I took my leave then rather than later. If I had stayed they would have called Dumbledore down to "sort me out" within an hour or so, or locked me away until he could get there. They had a habit of making my life difficult for the littlest thing, and my patience has been pushed too much. I couldn't trust myself not to draw my wand on them or anyone who came to try and take control but until my emancipation has been filed as official I didn't want to risk using magic, breaking the law for underage usage of magic is the last thing I need over my head right now, it would just be the proverbial nail in the coffin since it will be pretty clear to Dumbledore soon enough that I've realized some of what he has been attempting to do."

"You didn't use any magic on your way here?" the goblin looked surprised.

"I shrunk my trunk before I left my aunt and uncles, hoping that given my emotions at the time it would register as accidental, and I used my broom to get here because I've used brooms before at the Weasleys without being caught out for it, so I assumed they don't trace broom use."

There was a contemplative look on the goblins face.

"While I feel you did the right thing with the situation and behaved remarkably well controlled given the pressure you were under, I think you are mistaken on your analysis of whether or not they could trace your magic. The trace your government places on underage witches and wizards is not placed on the person themselves but rather on their wand; accidental magic will not show up on the ministrys records, whereas wand use would. From my knowledge I believe the trace is removed on a young wizards seventeenth birthday at a ceremony either in the ministry or at Hogwarts depending what time of year the birthday occurs. It is subtle however; many are not aware that the trace is on the wand as such a fuss is made over the person while the wand is quickly dealt with. It is just another way your government serves to control their people."

"Hmmm, that puts a swing on things."

Harry sat for a moment processing the information he had just discovered, before continuing.

"I assume this is why wandless magic is never taught until the seventh year, because by that point each student will be seventeen or due to turn seventeen within a month or two of leaving school so there isn't anything they can do about their magic anyway."

"Exactly. Your government tries their hardest to appear positive and in favor of the people but for generations it hasn't been this way. However, the problem has got worse in recent years with the effects of several "dark lords" making your people more and more afraid, and more susceptible to control if it is for the 'greater good'."

There was a pause before Gripnook continued.

"But discussions of this type, while stimulating, are not the reason you have appeared on our doorstep in such a manner, nor related to the business we must conduct. I believe you wished to conduct your emancipation at the soonest possible convenience, and although this meeting has come sooner than we had planned that time seems to be now."

"Yes." Harrys reply was short.

"I need to remove all the control over me I can now, before Dumbeldore can send me back to my relatives or halt it completely. The sooner the better really."

"It can be done immediately." the curt reply.

"But given how much you love your questions I'm surprised you haven't asked what it will involve, or what will change once you are legally an adult."

"I assumed we would come to that afterward; and I was more concerned about just getting it done if I'm honest. I've not had much time in my life for thinking things through so I was just going to go with what came and make the best of it."

"Given your past experiences I can understand how this would be the obvious option, but things are changing for you Mr Potter. There is no longer any need for you to deal with things as they happen, at least not every situation, and you need to learn to prepare for things as well as just throwing yourselves into them. This room is warded and your presence with us right now is kept at the utmost confidence, so we have time to talk about these things. Non of your enemies can gain access to you within our walls, and within my office is safer still."

"Hmmm." Harry had to contemplate this for a minute, it was so rare for him to be safe and the idea was foreign to him.

"So what will it take to become emancipated? And what will being a legal adult mean to my life? What will change? With all the people who have controlled me for years any type of freedom will be an improvement."

"The emancipation itself is simple; a drop of your blood onto a parchment which registers you as an adult and your part is done; the paperwork can be filled in by one of my secretaries while we deal with the second part of your question. Being an adult for most people is not much different, but for you as the head of at least one house there is a lot of paperwork, and a lot of details that need to be ironed out. The act of becoming an adult gives you full access to all your family accounts which will need to be examined and checked through before you can approve or disapprove any outgoings from them. The emancipation ritual itself will also show up any other families you may or may not be related to or have a claim on, so research will have to be done regarding whether or not you have some entitlement to monetary or property gains from these fields. However, Gringotts is unable to offer any help with researching this; that is up to the individual and we can only confirm details after they have already been brought to us."

"So I prick my finger, and you can tell all the families I am related to?" the cogs were turning in Harrys head; if this was the case then surely there was no way he could be related to the Flamells? Or his mother would have known about it through her own emancipation.

"Yes."

"Then why didn't my mother know of any magical family members she might have had? Some of the documents she left me suggested there may be magical blood through her side of the family too."

"Your mother was never emancipated." The simple but effective reply explained so much.

"In a normal situation there is no ritual, a witch or wizard is simply declared an adult, so there is never any reason for bloodlines to be checked in this manner."

"Then how come she never took this test when she started to suspect?"

"Your mother never went to the ministry with her suspicions, or if she did then they refused to admit it or do anything about it for fear of the power it would give her. Had she come direct to us then we would have offered her this test as standard although the same limitations would have applied to her as to you; she would have had to build an adequate claim on any inheritance before we would have considered opening any accounts in her name."

"Why didn't she ask you though? I thought you said before that my parents had a good relationship with your nation?"

"Your family as a whole did, but as a muggleborn your mother had no reason to build a good relationship with us herself; nor was she versed in the powers the goblins can hold or our own magic. This is only speculation, but I would assume that given the political atmosphere in your world at the time your father never felt the need to inform her of a lot of things your family took for granted. You can only hope that there is more information in one or more of your properties regarding this family connection or your family relationship with us. We can only tell you so much without giving away our nations secrets, and we have no knowledge of what your family may or may not have stored from that."

"That's understandable, can we do it now?"

"Of course."

***after the emancipation***

Harry sat for at the desk staring at the paper in front of him. He was feeling a bit drained, it seemed that the Goblins hadn't realized the full effects of emancipation or what it would mean for someone in his situation. It had drained him, physically and mentally, as the shackles of years of spellwork and manipulations against him had been removed. From initial tests it appeared he had been kept under a collection of mood enhancers, compelling, loyalty and memory charms, and some magic suppressants, the effects of all which had been removed the moment his blood touched the parchment and he was recognized as a legal adult by magic at least. His mind was feeling clearer than it had ever before, although he was having problems coming to terms initially with some of the memories that had been uncovered. It would probably take him some time to process a lot of what he had remembered, and would make him a lot more cautious with people, but it also questioned the way he had behaved to a lot of people over the years. He now remembered a lot more from his early childhood, including visits with Draco and his mother as a small child, continuing even after he had been placed with the Dursleys. He was also remembering a closer relationship between himself and Snape, visits up to around the age of five when the man would visit him at his aunts house and bring him presents, tell him stories of the Wizarding world and his mother. He wondered if the change in attitude that he now realized his aunt had experienced was caused by magic, and after voicing these concerns to Gripnook it was agreed that someone from the bank would kidnap his family and enforce a magic clearing potion be administered at the soonest possible moment. If there was proof that magic had been used on them, and if they were able to restore them to the people they were before, then they would be placed in a safe house, and if not their memories could be wiped and no-one would be any the wiser. The same was to be done for Severus Snape, although gaining access to the Potions Master would be harder since he was so close to Dumbledore and kept so tightly under the mans thumb.

Strangely, the ritual had also removed what appeared to be a series of glamors which had been placed over Harry too. Having looked in the mirror it was strange for him to see his features were now more like his mothers; his hair slightly redder in color, his face rounder and his trademark scar decidedly faded; it seemed whoever had preformed the manipulations to his mind (although there was no doubt who that was, without proof both him and Gripnook agreed they could not reasonably convict) had also done the same to his appearance, making him look more and more like the pureblood prince who had sacrificed his life for his child than the muggleborn witch who had birthed him. Ironic, but not surprising that the great leader of the light, defender of muggles, would make his golden boy look more like the purebloods he claimed to dislike.

It was the parchment in front of him which really held his attention though, as it listed all the magical families he had some blood connection too, and while his fathers side didn't surprise him the list relating to his maternal side held some shocks. Although there was no way of telling how strong the blood connection was in its present form, Gripnooks magic seemed to show that he was related not only to the Flamells but also the Weasleys and another family he had never heard mentioned before, the Gaunts. The Flamells he could understand, after all there had been some hint of that in his parents letters, but where the Weasley connection came in or who the Gaunts were was something he would have to look into. It wouldn't surprise him if Dumbledore had known of all this all along and just chosen to keep him in the dark, or as another way to control him if Dumbledore was also somehow related to these families. Gripnook had mentioned the possibility of inheritance, and if Dumbledore was relying on Harry for his money it seemed doubtful he would give up access to any funds which were also his to claim. After all, it must have been a given to the old man that eventually what he had done would come to light and he would have to face the reprocussions.

There was a cough, and Harry looked up to find his account manager looking over at him.

"Mr Potter, while it is clear you have found a lot of things to contemplate, and you must have a lot of questions for me, I am afraid that the hour grows late and we must part company at least until our next meeting. I have taken the liberty to arrange accomidation for you within muggle London, assuming you would be harder to trace there, and one of my undersecretaries is waiting to accompany you there now."

Harry flicked his eyes to his battered watch and started, it seemed that his meeting had taken a lot longer than expected and it was already nearly 9pm. As if it had been waiting for him to notice, his stomach started to rumble.

"That's probably for the best, I need to eat anyway since I haven't since this morning. Would it be okay if I came back tomorrow though? I want to start looking at my accounts and working out what I can and can't do now I'm an adult, and what changes I need to make."

"That would be more than acceptable; we will see you tomorrow morning, if half 10 is acceptable?"

"That should be okay."

Harry yawned as he stood up, suddenly realizing just how tired he was, and quietly followed the young goblin waiting outside the door. It had been a long day, he had much to think about and a future to plan but for now, for now he just needed sleep!

**A/n**

Wow, not a bad length chapter there! I had a lot more things planned to take place, but the emancipation and talking with the goblins ran to nearly 5000 words, so it seemed like a relivant place to stop! Thank you everyone for your reviews and watches since the last one, I can't wait to hear all your responses to this and what is to come.

And for anyone wondering about where this story is going or its slow pace, just remember that I am aiming this story to be well over 100k words, this is just the base for what is to come. Action will come, but not for a while as Harry has to discover more of who he is first!

Peace out

Josie.


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:**

**CHAPTER 7:**

The hotel he had been booked was better than Harry was used to, far suppressing anything even Hogwarts had to offer. His room, if it could even be called that, was a suite of three rooms; a large seating and kitchen area, a bedroom with a huge double bed and also a luxurious bathroom. The top of a large building in the center of London, the views over the city astounded him, and a small part of him couldn't help but think how jealous his aunt would be if she could see him now. A bit of a change from his cupboard, to say the least, and a lot more than their boring 4 bedroom in suburban Sussex had to offer.

He had planned, initially, to sleep as soon as he got somewhere safe; to catch up on the energy he had expended that day and rest so he could better contemplate the effects of the emancipation and what being a legal adult would mean. Those plans, however, were soon blown out the window, when shortly after he had settled down to the provided meal there was a tap at the window.

Rising slowly, his stomach groaning under the weight of so much rich food, he tiptoed cautiously over; while there was reasonably nothing to fear being on the top floor nothing was to be taken for granted given the power of magic and he didn't want to be caught so soon after finally escaping the clutches of his controllers. He had nothing to fear however, and his heart leapt in joy when he caught sight of his familiar, her ever recognizable white feathers glittering in the evening sun.

"Hedwig"

She cooed in response, then flew in through the hurriedly opened window before landing happily on his offered shoulder. Harry felt himself relax for the first time all day at her oh so familiar weight, and let out a large sigh. Things were clearly starting to look up; he was an adult, had money of his own, wasn't stuck with his abusive relations, and he had his owl by his side. The owl, he then noticed, which had several tightly wrapped letters attached to her leg. Untying them, he filled a glass bowl with water and gestured towards his unfinished dinner, before retiring to the couch and pulling the first of the letters open.

"Dear Harry,

Please don't beat yourself up over what happened in the Ministry, or what happened to Sirius. Non of it was your fault, you just did what you thought was best in the situation and handled it as well as you could. We were lucky that things weren't any worse, and it was only your quick thinking that made it like that so don't you dare try and blame yourself! It was a bit of a foolish idea, and we should have gone to teachers first rather than try and deal with it on our own, but we agreed to go with and that was our choice not anyone elses. Hopefully after the way things went you will learn that we can't always rely on our gut instincts to guide us through and adults should be trusted more though; because we can't risk having another situation like loosing Sirius again!

If it was anyones fault it was his though; he should have known better than to disobey what Dumbledore advised. Everyone knows how great Dumbledore is and how much he knows, so why couldn't Sirius just trust him and do what he said! No matter what I might think about things I know it's always best to follow older people who know best; they've got more experience and have a better idea of how things could turn out!

We're only young, how can we _possibly_ understand things better than people who have lived over 100 years and seen so much! We're so lucky with the Order that we have so many people around us who have been through it all before and can teach us things about fighting, we really should use that resource as much as we can, and share anything we find out with the Order so they can help us more! Think how much easier everything we've done would have been if we had adult help, someone there to show us what to do or even do it for us instead! You have to admit a lot of our so called adventures have been caused by your hotheadedness and refusal to talk to people you should!"

Harry sighed, that was typical Hermione. It wasn't his fault, but they should trust better in adults and give them anything they asked for. Just ignore, naturally, the fact that in every occasion he had done his very best to contact an adult to help them and had always been refused, that the situations they had found themselves in had only happened because there _was_ noone to show them a better way! The letter continued, however, and no matter how much her first words might have angered him Harry couldn't hep but read on. Almost afraid, he flipped over to the second page of parchment and flicked through what she had read.

"You asked questions about our homework, which I will of course happily answer, you know how much I love to study of course! I've completed all the set homework at least to some level, but there's still so much more I want to add to all my essays, the more reading I do the more I want to add into things and my only problem is going to be reducing everything down to the length we were asked for!

I'm just so glad most of our teachers don't mind if what I write is a bit longer and it is only Snape I have to worry about getting the correct length for. After all, the other teachers appreciate more information and the knowledge I show, and I'm not even sure Professor Binns reads our essays let alone grades them properly. I'm thinking about asking someone else to grade them for me next year, though I don't know if the older students would even be able to since they've had the same teacher; I might see if Prof McGonnigal can recommend someone in the Ministry I can send my work to so that I don't fall too far behind. I'm just so afraid that I'm not getting the grades I deserve, but hopefully our OWL results will show otherwise, we'll find out soon enough anyway since they are due any day now!

Of course I have extra books on all the subjects, I've just been waiting for either you or Ron to ask, though really Harry I would have thought better of you. Ron I'll accept as being a bit slow or not interested, but you should have had the common sense to look for more books yourself, after all its your world and your inheritance we're learning about, I'm new to it all and I want to know. I just can't imagine what it would be like to be born into all this, spend years hiding away from it and then not want to learn everything I could when I came back! Especially with your status, I would have thought you would need to know more. I know your accounts are probably being managed by you at the minute, and so is your business dealings, but surely you want to know how to manage things when you reach seventeen and can take over!

In answer to your question, it's not exactly easy for me to get to the Alley in the summer either, as mum and dad can't come with me due to the fame you've attracted to both me and Ron, and I can't get in without someone to escort me through the barrier. I order all my books by mail order, I find it helps to write to Flourish and Blotts and just drop a few names; having met Dumbledore personally on several occasions and being close friends with you really doesn't hurt to mention if I need something. Also, the fact I am always top of the year really doesn't go amiss.

The best advice I can offer you is to write to the book store, and anywhere else you can think of that might be able to sell you what you want, and see what they can do for you! I don't doubt you'll get everything you need, and some discounts too if you mention who you are. I hope you would use that to your advantage, Harry, because even though I know you don't like your fame having it and not using it seems to be a giant waste to me! After all, the power you hold just from what you did as a baby can get you pretty much anything you want, let alone taking in the stature and power that comes with your house! Sometimes I really worry that your social skills were limited by living with your aunt and uncle for so long."

More typical Hermione, assuming she knew best and telling him what he should and shouldn't do. How was it her business what he did with his name? And how dare she use his friendship to gain her things! Much as he adored his best friend he was forced to wonder exactly what type of friendship they had now, he had never noticed her using him in this way before but to see it written down it made perfect sense. After all, she might not push him openly about things but she was always willing to use things if she could, anything to gain an advantage at school! That realization would definatly define the tone of his next letter, if he even bothered to reply! Her next paragraph made that idea even less likely, as Harry read on to what she had written on yet another sheet of parchment.

"Harry!

I was mid way through writing this letter when Dumbledore got in contact and asked if I had heard anything from you. I did of course show him your letter, and then he told me that you'd ran away and left your aunts. What are you thinking? Why would you do something like that?! I know you don't like living there but Dumbledore obviously knows its best for you and throwing away the blood protection is nothing short of stupid! You had better get back there as soon as possible, I don't want to interupt my studying to go look for you but I will if I have to; you need to be there!

Write to be as SOON as you get this, I need to know where you are so someone can come and get you back safe!

Write to me, NOW!

Hermione."

How dare she, Harry fumed as he paced around his rooms. How dare she even consider sending him back there when she was the only person he had even partially confided in about the realities of his life! How dare she suggest he go back to those horrible people when she was the only person he knew who really had any idea just how harsh the muggle world could be! It wasn't like the Wizarding nation, where children were often rare and cared for if not loved, it was a whole different society where children weren't wanted a lot of the time and left for abuse! Even though she had never experienced it herself she should at least have heard enough about it to imagine the horrors he had been through! There would be no reply to her tonight, that was for sure; and non to the other post either, as he could tell instantly that it was from Dumbledore and Ron. Dumbledores would be telling him to get back to his aunts as fast as possible, and Ron's would be calling him a git and telling him to go back there, so there was no point even reading it yet!

Debating briefly whether or not to burn Dumbledores letter and destroy any tracking charms, he thought better. He was still using the wand he had purchased when he first went to Hogwarts and whatever tracing charms the ministry had placed on it would still be there, let alone whatever else Dumbledore had chosen to do! Instead he stroked Hedwig as he formed a plan in his mind... He would send her to Sirius's house at Grimmauld Place and get her to leave the letter there; the order wouldn't be using it since Sirius had passed out of respect, and it was somewhere he would likely have ran to! Sending Hedwig off again, he collapsed onto his bed and finally let sleep take him.

The next morning Harry dressed then ate a quick breakfast as he read through his letter from Ron. It was basically the same as he expected, lots of talk about Quidditch and how the Cannons were doing in the league (pathetic as always) and moaning about how bored Ron also was, stuck at home under his mothers watchful eye. She was being even more controlling and overly protective than normal, and Harry felt a brief flash of sympathy for his friend, before remembering just how much he would have loved something like that!

The next morning Harry dressed, ate a quick breakfast and made his way back to Diagon Alley under the cover of his invisibility cloak without even looking at his post. While his bedroom mirror had shown him that he was looking more and more like his mother he still didn't trust himself not to be recognized, and he didn't want to risk casting any glamour on himself just yet. One, he didn't know the magic involved and wouldn't want to do something too dangerous or irriversable, and two, he didn't trust his wand. First after Gringotts would be to replace it, that was for sure, but for now he had to go and deal with his bankers!

At least Goblin Bankers were easier to deal with, he mused to himself as he made his way through the Golden doors into the main foyer, and was instantly ushered down to Gripnooks offices again. Yes, Goblins had their own ways and their own attitudes to things, but they were a lot more likely to be straight forward than Humans were. They were scheming and always looking for ways to make easy money, but they never denied this or tried to be anything else. While a human would act your friend and get close to you before stabbing you in the back, the Goblin equivalent would stab you in the front and smile while they were doing it!

Arriving in the office, he yet again took the offered seat and waited paitently while his account manager organised some paper in front of him. There was no point rushing a Goblin, that was clear. They worked at their own speed, got things done the way they should be, and annoying them or rushing them just made things happen slower. Sure enough, after about five minutes of silence Gripnook spoke.

"We have a lot more to discuss today, and a lot of things that need to be organized before we can continue much further. Firstly, however, I think it is important we assess the transactions on your accounts since your parents deaths, and confirm officially that you had nothing to do with these changes."

Harry nodded in agreement. He was very interested to find out just what had happened to his accounts while he didn't know about them, anything else could be worked out afterwards but it was very important he knew who was doing what. How could he put plans into effect or know who to avoid if he didn't know exactly who had been doing things against him? Dumbledore was an obvious choice, but who else could have been involved was yet to be seen. After all, with a name as huge as his, and apparently a bank balance equally large, there was sure to be quite a lot of people who were after control of at least some of his funds. If he had known about his financial situation before he knew he would have taken a more active roll in his affairs and done everything he could to stop people doing what they could with what he had.

"Considering I didn't even know I had money other than the one account I had access to I can sign off on any other transactions as being against my wishes without any thought to the matter. However, I would like to know exactly what has been done and by who, if this is possible! I can't react fairly if I don't know what has been done or who is to blame!"

An evil smile was his first response.

"Of course, Mr Potter, we would expect nothing else of course."

Gripnook shifted through his papers again, before pulling out a large, thick paper pad and scanning it briefly.

"It appears your accounts have been used regularly since the death of your parents. The first transactions happened just days after the event, the same day as you were placed with your mothers family. On that day the equivilent of half a million British Pounds was removed from your central account and transferred into an account set up in the name of Mrs Petunia Dursley."

"My aunt."

There was a nod.

"At the same time access to your main account was also granted to Mr Vernon Dursley and Mrs Petunia Dursley, with a limit of the equivalent of 10,000 per month withdrawal. Since then the maximum amount has been withdrawn at every opportunity, bringing the grand total withdrawal from made by them to roughly 1650,000 over almost fourteen years."

"Thats a lot of money! They always told me I was a burden on them and taking out of their pockets!" Harry was furious and disgusted, and it showed in his voice.

"It isn't a small amount, but considering the size of your accounts the reductions there are not even noticable. I can understand why you would be angry, however there are more issues within your accounts which we need also discuss."

"Hmmm?"

"On top of the money going to Mr and Mrs Dursley, there have been regular outgoings of 2000 per month to a Mrs Molly Weasley since the month before you started Hogwarts. There has been one removal a year to the Pureblood Investment Fund, headed by Mr Malfoy, as well as to the Department of Mysteries in London. There has also been money donated regularly on your behalf to an organization known as the Order Of The Phoenix and to St Mungos hospital and Hogwarts school."

Harry growled at this, and Gripnook looked surprised. It was a strange reaction from any human, especially one who always seemed so composed and emotionless regarding most things. It was almost, he mused, as if the boy had no fight in him, as if his humanity had been largely stripped away.

"Stop it all! Every last penny of it!"

"If that is what you want."

"Of course I want it! It's my money, and someone has been stealing it from me. I want to know how these people even had any right to my money, what were they doing taking it from me?! I never agreed to give money to any of these people, not once! I don't mind my money going to a hospital but it should be my choice not anyone elses, and as for paying for the _Pureblood Investment Fund_ I have no idea what that is but I am sure it is not something I would choose to give my money to! I might support the Order of the Phoenix in what they are trying to do but why should I have to pay for it?! Why should it be my money funding people like Mundungus Fletcher and whoever else Dumbledore has working for him to eat good meals and drink good wine at every meal, when they don't even let me know what they're doing! If I'm funding something surely I have the right to know what's going on, what my money is going on?"

"It can be looked into" But Harry interupted, and finally there was some emotion showing on the young man.

"As for the Weasleys, why are they even getting any of my money like this? If they needed it that bad they could have had it if they had just asked, I offered enough times and they know I would happily share everything I have with them. So why in Hells name are they taking money a backhanded way from me? Why didn't they just tell me about this, and let me decide. They're supposed to be my friends, my surrogate family outside of this! I want to know who authorised all these transactions and what I can do to them!"

"They were all authorized by your Magical Guardian."

"And who might that be?"

"It isn't listed, but I will have the information found for you before our meeting is finished." Gripnook gestured behind him and a young Goblin stepped out of the shaddows. Talking quickly in Gobledegook he sent the youth on his way, then turned back to Harry.

"I know you are angry, but there are other matters pertaining your accounts that also need to be discussed, not least your properties."

"I have properties?"

Gripnook scanned through his paperwork again briefly, nodding his head.

"At the time of your parents deaths your accounts contained the deeds to thirteen residential properties. Upon our assessment of your accounts we can confirm that this number is now reduced to just six."

"What happened to the others?" came the bitter question, whatever the answer was, it was clearly not going to be good.

"Out of the seven properties missing from your portfolio, our records show that six of them were sold, including the house that was due to be left to Mr Lupin. The property in Godrics Hollow where your parents died was gifted by your magical guardian to the Wizarding Nation. We can only assume that it is now used as some form of monument to what happened that night."

"And the ones that are left? I really need an option for a place to stay rather than in the Muggle World."

"The five properties you can currently claim are spread out across the world." Replied Gripnook, reading through his notes again.

"You have Potter Mansion on the south coast, in a Wizarding only area near Weymouth, your maternal Grandparents holiday house as mentioned in your parents Will, although on making that public you will loose the rights to this home, and also an appartment block in Central Leicester which is mainly rented, although the penthouse is left empty for your use. On top of that you have a villa in South Africa, a large house in Australia and a mansion in California. Previously the House of Potter also owned properties in Spain, Portugal, India, China, Brazil and also a property in Scotland."

"That's very spread out."

"Your family has businesses or interests in all of these areas. It is always financially viable to have a base near anywhere you have big operations."

"I guess so. By interests I assume you mean financial?"

"Of course!" there was a half smile at that comment, and a brief moment of understanding as both realized that the only mutual interest they had was in money and in punishing those who tried to take what wasn't theirs to take.

"The Potter House owns interests in many businesses across the world, though some are less profitable than others. You are however the soul owner of a crystal mine in India as well as several quarys, the most profitable and reachable within close proximity to your Weymouth house."

"These businesses bring in a lot of money?"

"Enough that your family have comfortably stayed within Gringotts most valued customers for the past six or seven generations."

That was enough to tell Harry, if not exact figures, then roughly how much these businesses must be bringing in. From what he had seen of the magical world there were a lot of very wealthy people, who generally flaunted that wealth and appeared to want for nothing. To know that he was one of them, and possibly one of the richest of the lot, came as a bit of a system shock to say the least. He knew he had money, that had become more and more clear the more he had spoken and communicated with Gripnook, but to know that he was still earning was more difficult to come to terms with. Stored money, yes, he could understand that being overlooked or kept aside to tell him when he came of age, but whole businesses bringing in large sums on a regular basis? That was something completely different and something he should have been informed of a long time ago!

"I assume with all these businesses I have employees?" He asked, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Even with magic these places can't all run themselves. I hope for their sakes that whoever has been messing with my accounts hasn't negatively impacted them. Mess with me, fine, but mess with people under my name and I won't have it! Money can be earned again, but a name is something you only have once!"

"Indeed, though you are right in your suggestion that they may have been negatively impacted." Gripnook checked his figures. "In the past fifteen years over half your employee's have been let go, and from what we can tell very few have been able to find other work. Of the ones that are left wages and benefits have been cut at every possible turn, and many are hoping and actively searching for new jobs if they haven't already left. As most of your employee's are Muggle there are very few who have any idea who you might be, and even less who have any chance of meeting those who have been controlling your accounts. Since taking control Mr Dumbledore has visited your Weymouth works only once, to inform the staff of your parents deaths and imminent cutbacks. Since then they have seen noone from head management, though you have several magical people placed high within the company who have passed on letters on a five yearly bases from yourself."

"I never wrote any letters to any companies. I didn't even know they existed and if I had have known I would have gone there in person! It's the least I can do for the people who are making me money!"

"I assumed as much. However, these letters have been arriving and have been being read to the staff, under the aim of boosting moral one would assume."

"An aim I would guess failed?"

"From what we can gather, although we haven't looked much into detail about each individual situation yet. Your accounts are large and our time has been short, we will of course inform you more as time progresses and we uncover more."

"Naturally." Harry paused and his eyes flicked briefly to his watch. "Would you mind if we wrapped up this meeting for now? I have a lot to think about, and if it is acceptable I would like to retire to one of my properties to get settled. Much as I appreciate the night in the muggle world and the expensive hotel you found for me to stay in, that much grandure isn't what I'm used to. Also, I feel it would be best if I emmerced myself in the Wizarding World as soon as possible rather than waiting any longer. Until recently I haven't felt I belonged, but now I do I don't want to let that go!"

"That would be more than acceptable! I will have one of your house elves called to escort you to a property of your choosing, and we can reconvene this meeting at a later date."

"If you're sure that won't be an inconvenience?"

"I believe not. I'll have one of your house elves meet you in the stone room off the great hall."

With a nod Gripnook gestured to another goblin who had been waiting in the wings; the same it appeared who had brought Harry down earlier that morning. Had it really been hours? It felt like a lot less.

Gripnook smiled at that, before standing and gesturing Harry to his feet. There was something about this boy, now his glamors had been removed and he was beginning to think for himself, which was making even he, one of the most experience goblins, wonder, and he wanted to take another look and see what his eye might have previously overlooked.

The young man in front of him was becoming quite impressive, there was no denying that. Far from the boy who had arrived under the guise of fake confidence several weeks ago, here was a man who truly did have the confidence the sought to portray. Standing tall and proud, there was a kindly if not slightly bemused on the slightly rounded, half smiling face. Unlike many of his type here was a man who didn't look down on the Goblins, as rather than shying away from the contact or looking back with disgust Harry simply accepted it, seemed to look upon Gripnook as his equal rather than as a creature beneath him. He held himself secure in his nature, yet at the same time portrayed someone easy to reach out for, his kind nature and loving heart shining through any guise he might have tried to put on. Quick to anger if it was deserved, capable of holding a grudge but loyal to the end were all impressions that popped out from what he saw. There was something else in there too, a ruthlessness which told that he would go to any ends to achieve his goals if they were something he truly believed in, but at the same time compassionate, thinking of others before his own gains every time. Respectful, Honorable and Real, those were the words Griphook would have used had he been asked, and he stored them away for later use. This man would make a fine leader if they were finally going to take down Dumbledore and all the corruption the man had caused over the years. Gringotts had been waiting for years untold for an excuse and a way to pin this man down legally and not face harsher Ministry restrictions, and here it appeared was there answer, shining out at them from non other than Dumbledores golden boy himself.

Well; another chapter down, another god knows how many to go! Spent quite a lot of time on this chapter, although lots of that was due to cutting out a huge section in the middle to go into the next chapter. The next chapter should be the last of the base building chapters though, and after that its just the story and wherever the characters choose to take it! I know it's taken quite a while to get this far, but hopefully it'll be worth it in the long run!

So now we know for sure that it was Dumbles behind a lot of Harrys problems, but this is only with the bank. Ooh he's going to be _pissed_ when he realizes Harry is onto him. And Molly Weasley has been taking money from Harrys accounts has she? I doubt this will go down well. Will he mention it to Ron or just let it slide, or will he wait and have a huge kick off if/when he goes back to school? Harry has a place to stay, yay! I know in cannon Potter Mansion wasn't anywhere near the south coast, but if it's going to be a regularly used setting in my story I wanted to be able to talk about somewhere I know, it's also why I chose Leicester as my second location for Harry's properties. Some point in this story he's going to purchase another hideaway too, which will play a key part in the story, but that won't happen for quite a while yet I don't think!

Hope you all enjoyed this one, and please do read and review, it's always appreciated and inspires me to want to work harder and write longer chapters, even if I don't get as much time to write as I would like!

Love and Peace

Josie


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